Brothers In Arms
by Jealous Rage
Summary: What would happen if Inuyasha and Sesshomaru found out that they had another brother who was more powerful than they could imagine? What if all three siblings were trapped in Kagome's era?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

Hidden within the shadows of some large trees, he saw the two standing in a small clearing. A Small wooden well was the clearing's only decoration. He watched silently from his hiding place as the battle commenced. The two clashed, sparks flying as their blades met, completely unaware that they were being watched. Anger was rolling off one of the combatants in waves, but the other remained as cool as ice.

Even though the combat was intense, it was not a full out battle; both of the fighters seemed reluctant to unleash their full power on each other. The silent watcher knew this, and he waited impatiently for the real fight to start. After several moments, he finally got his wish.

One of the two fighters, the one who was dressed head to toe in red, brought his sword crashing down while simultaneously yelling, "Wind Scar!" A large burst of yellow energy was released from the blade; it flew unerringly towards the other combatant. The onlooker leaned forward in interest, waiting with bated breath to see how the second fighter handled the sudden predicament.

Dodging the attack, the second fighter brought his own sword down in a vicious slashing gesture. He wielded his sword one-handed, his other arm having been lost in battle to the same fighter he was currently facing off against. His white clothing billowed in the breeze created by the power his sword radiated toward his red-clothed assailant. The air crackled with blue energy as his blast hit its intended mark.

The watcher however, was not pleased. He had quickly realized that the second blast of energy had not been intended to kill. As much as he detested the idea of the two actually finishing each other off, he still appreciated a fighter who was willing to kill to finish the fight. He was a demon, after all.

Although he had suffered a direct hit, it didn't take long for the red-clothed fighter to jump back to his feet."That was pathetic, you stupid bastard!" he called out as he wiped a small smear of blood from his cheek.

The second fighter smirked slightly before replying. "If I really wanted you dead little brother, you would be."

"You're all talk, Sesshomaru!" With those words, the two resumed their battle, still completely unaware they were being watched.

As the battle progressed however, the silent watcher noticed the one in red kept glancing over at the well nervously, as if he was waiting for something to appear.

The hidden demon smiled and nodded knowingly. _He is waiting for his human. He must be expecting her back sometime soon, _he thought. At that moment, the watcher's attention was drawn back to the battle.

The two brothers had jumped apart and were glaring at each other from across the clearing. The only thing separating them was the well. The silent onlooker quickly realized the Sesshomaru, the one armed fighter, had been the one who had halted the combat.

The one in red attempted to goad his older brother into resuming their struggle. "What are you, some kind of wimpy little coward? Fight me!" His efforts were in vain, however. Sesshomaru merely stared at him coldly.

"What are you looking for, Inuyasha? What is so important about some old, dried up well?" Sesshomaru's question seemed to surprise Inuyasha. He had apparently been under the impression that his frequent glances toward the well had been discreet. Unfortunately for him, there were not very many beings alive, be they demon or human, who could completely hide anything from Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru saw his brother falter and quickly made his move. He shot a massive amount of killing blue energy at Inuyasha and then stilled to watch his brother be consumed by his finishing blast.

Unfortunately for Sesshomaru, Inuyasha had been waiting for that exact thing to happen. He quickly unleashed his own massive energy attack."Wind Scar!" The two immense bursts of lethal energy flew at each other, both crackling with incredible power.

From his vantage point, the watcher quickly noticed that a dangerous situation was about to surface. His eyes widened with the realization of what could happen, and he quickly dashed from his cover beneath the trees. He raced towards the battlefield, but he didn't arrive in time to stop the blasts from connecting. All he could do was watch in horror as his world was turned upside down.

What he had realized instantly was that the two colossal energy blasts would meet each other directly above the well. He knew that the well was being used as a conduit for Inuyasha and his human to travel back and forth from this era to the human's. What this meant was that the well was basically like a door, keeping the energy required for time-traveling contained. If that door was suddenly destroyed, the energy would be released, drawing anything in the immediate vicinity forward in time.

The two brothers had turned in surprise when their keen sense of hearing detected the previously hidden demon's hasty approach. Two sets of eyes, one amber and one gold, widened in surprise at the sight of him, but there was no time for anybody to say or do anything. At that exact moment, the two blasts collided, causing the rickety old well to disintegrate completely. The ground shook as a wave of bluish-pink energy surged out of the hole that had once been the well.

All three demons turned and attempted to flee the wave, but their efforts were in vain. All three were quickly engulfed by the energy and disappeared immediately. The wave surged out for a few more meters, before it came to a stop and began to pulsate wildly. Moments later, it dissipated into nothing, leaving behind no trace of what had occurred.


	2. Arrival

**Arrival**

* * *

Kagome Higurashi was lying on her back on the ground, watching the stars. The night sky over Japan was clear for once, a real rarity. Gathered around her were her family members; her mother, grandfather, and younger brother Sota. They were in the courtyard of their home, lying beside a small shrine. Said shrine was home to the well that Kagome used to travel between the present time and the Feudal Era.

Ever since she had been pulled into the well by a centipede demon on her fifteenth birthday, Kagome had been traveling all over Feudal Era Japan with her companions; the half-demon Inuyasha, the demon slayer Sango, her demon cat Kilala, the perverted monk Miroku, and the young fox demon Shippo. Together, they had been searching for the shards of the sacred Shikon Jewel, which Kagome had accidently shattered while trying to retrieve it shortly after she first arrived in Feudal Japan. They were attempting to gather all of the shards before they could be collected by the evil demon, Naraku. Every once in a while however, Inuyasha "allowed" her to return to her time to see her family. This time, Inuyasha wasn't expecting her back until sometime the next day.

As she lay there, thinking back on the last few months, Kagome's grandfather turned and started talking to her. Even though she wasn't really listening to him, her thinking had been disturbed.

Looking over at her brother, Kagome spoke. "Can you get me a can of soda out of the fridge, please?"

Sota looked like he was going to say something rude to her, but a quick look from their mother silenced him. Grumbling, he raised himself from the ground and started to walk past the shrine on the way to the house. Just as he reached the door of the shrine, an eerie bluish light started shining out from under it. He immediately stopped to get a better look.

Suddenly, the door burst open and Inuyasha leaped out of the shrine. He was holding Tetsusaiga firmly and had a look of horror on his face.

"Run!" he yelled at Sota, but the young boy was still standing still, looking at the glowing well with interest.

Meanwhile, Inuyasha's yell had drawn the attention of Kagome. She quickly made her way towards him. "Inuyasha, what are you doing here?" she inquired. "I was going to go back tomorrow morning." Kagome was incredibly annoyed that her half-demon friend would return so early to pick her up, but any admonishing words she may have spoke died at the sight of the unfamiliar expression on his face."What's wrong?" she asked urgently, but he didn't answer her. Instead, he scooped up Sota and ran to where she was standing.

"You and your family need to get out of here right now! Run as far away as you can!" he yelled loudly as he turned and leveled his sword at the shrine.

"Why," she asked him, freaked out by his expression and words. Suddenly however, it all became clear because at that moment, she sensed a new power appear inside the shrine. She quickly looked inside and watched as a tall form, with long silver hair and only one arm, rose up out of the well. She gasped in horror and confusion at the sight."Sesshomaru! But how?" She didn't get an answer. All she could do was watch as Sesshomaru stepped out of the shrine and looked directly at her. Then he collapsed.

"What's wrong with him?" a quiet voice asked Kagome. She looked around. It was her mother. Kagome hadn't even heard her or her grandfather approaching them.

Before she could answer the question however, Inuyasha spoke up. "His senses have been overwhelmed by the strong smells and sounds of this era." A look of pity immediately appeared on Kagome's mother's face.

"Poor creature," she whispered. Then she began to make her way over to him. Kagome's and Inuyasha's eyes widened.

"What are you doing, mom? Stay away from him, he'll kill you!" Kagome shouted. Her mother ignored her; she was too soft-hearted a woman to let anything or anybody suffer, regardless of whether or not they were evil.

Reaching towards Sesshomaru with an outstretched hand, her eyes widened in surprise and she let out a gasp as he suddenly sprung to feet and grabbed her roughly with his arm. Kagome and Inuyasha both yelled, "No!" at the same time. Sesshomaru just smirked cruelly in their direction.

"Now that I have your full attention," he paused and looked piercingly at his brother and Kagome, "you will answer my questions." He fell silent, his gaze roving from Inuyasha to Kagome.

"Don't hurt my mother, Sesshomaru. Please," Kagome pleaded with him. She might as well have been talking to herself for all the response she got. His expression never faltered.

"Will you answer my questions, or will I be forced to hurt this woman?" Sesshomaru asked, his eyes fixated directly on Kagome's.

The group was saved from finding out if Sesshomaru was capable of carrying out his threat however, due to the arrival of a sudden distraction. Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Kagome sensed another presence emerge the well and all three turned to look at who the newcomer was.

"Put down the human, Sesshomaru," a deep voice spoke. A tall figure suddenly materialized between where Sesshomaru and the others, drawing a gasp of shock from Kagome.

"This guy is huge!" she immediately thought. Considering her usual company, that was truly saying something. Inuyasha stood several inches over six feet and was built pretty solidly. Sesshomaru was even large, towering over Inuyasha by about half a foot. The new guy was taller than Sesshomaru, and not by just a little bit. Seven feet would have been a conservative estimate.

His face was very interesting; he had golden eyes that were very similar to Sesshomaru's. He also shared the elder dog demon's refined, sophisticated look. His markings however, were different. Whereas Sesshomaru had two maroon slashes under each eye and a purple crescent moon on his forehead, the stranger had two red stripes, in an x shape, meeting over each eye.

His hair caught Kagome's eyes next. It was silver, just like Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's, but unlike them, he did not wear his long. It was cut quite short and raised in little spikes all over his head. This being the case, it did little to hide his pointed ears.

_Not bad_, Kagome couldn't help but think. Then, her eyes traveled south.

His clothing, she realized, was not unlike some of the clothes from her era. The pants he was wear were black and looked to be made of some type of denim-like material. His upper body was covered by a cotton-like covering, similar to a modern t-shirt. Over it all, he had on a black leather coat. If she would have thought about it, Kagome might have asked herself how a demon from the past could have gotten his hands on a leather coat that looked like it might have come off the rack of a designer clothing store. She was slightly distracted however, and the thought never occurred to her.

Kagome's was pulled away from her perusal of the newcomer's clothing, and the impressive musculature it covered, when a normally emotionless voice was suddenly rang out. Never before had Kagome ever heard that voice as tinged with anger and confusion as it currently was.

"How is this possible? How have I not sensed your presence long ago?" Sesshomaru looked far more flustered than either Kagome or Inuyasha had ever seen him before. He actually relaxed his grip on Kagome's mother, allowing the woman to drop from his grasp to the ground.

Sesshomaru's question only seemed to amuse the strange demon, because he grinned.

Seeing Sesshomaru struggling to regain his composure, Inuyasha took the opportunity to ask his own questions."Who the hell are you?" he demanded of the stranger.

"Show some respect for your betters, little brother." Kagome and Inuyasha both gasped in surprise. It had not been Sesshomaru who had spoken the last words. Inuyasha got a confused look in his eyes.

"What the hell are you talking about? I only have one brother and the asshole is standing right there," Inuyasha stated loudly, pointing to Sesshomaru.

The strange demon ignored Inuyasha however, and turned back to face Sesshomaru. This allowed Kagome to continue to peruse the image of the stranger before her. As far as she could tell, he didn't carry a weapon, though with the large coat, it was hard to tell. She was snapped out of her wonderings by the sound of his voice.

"I am surprised at you, Sesshomaru. Did you honestly think that our father would not have sired another before you? He was quite the ladies man, you know. He even bedded a human." At that point, he turned and gazed rather pointedly at Inuyasha.

Inuyasha still had the confused look in his eyes."Are you trying to tell me that you are related to me and Sesshomaru?"

"Well, I thought that was implied from the way that I called you little brother." The demon turned back to talk to Sesshomaru again."A little dense, is he? Doesn't catch on very quick?" Sesshomaru, however, was still a little shaken up and did not answer. "I see my arrival has greatly surprised you .You needn't worry; I'm not here for a fight."

He was cut off by Inuyasha. "Ha! You think you're a match for me. You don't even carry a weapon. I bet even Sesshomaru could beat you, and he's a weakling."

"Is that a fact?" The demon smirked and suddenly disappeared. Inuyasha blinked in surprise and extended his sword, as though he expected some sort of trickery. To his immense surprise, the strange demon suddenly materialized directly in front of him. Reacting on instinct, Inuyasha brought the Tetsusaiga crashing down on the demon.

Kagome closed her eyes to avoid seeing the handsome demon get split in two. To her surprise however, it was Inuyasha's cry of rage and not a scream of pain that entreated her to open her eyes. She looked up and gaped at the sight before her.

The stranger had caught the Tetsusaiga, blade first, and yanked it out of Inuyasha's hands. That wasn't even the most surprising part; the sword had remained fully transformed. Always before, when anybody besides Inuyasha had attempted to wield the blade, they had failed. Even if they actually managed to touch the weapon, they had never been able to call upon the sword's true power and transform it from a rusty relic into the lethal fang it currently was.

As the scene unfolded before him, Sesshomaru quickly realized the extent of power the strange demon standing before him must possess. Even he, the great Sesshomaru, Lord of the Western Lands, would not wish to take a full on strike from the Tetsusaiga, but the stranger had taken the hit and caught it bare-handed. He had even succeeded in taking the sword from the pathetic half-breed!

Meanwhile, the stranger had relinquished his grasp on the sword and handed it back to Inuyasha, hilt first. Inuyasha accepted it cautiously and sheathed the blade after a brief inspection. Then he stepped backwards, effectively interposing his body between the demon and Kagome. Unfortunately, this blocked Kagome's view, so she quickly stepped out from behind him.

By this time, Sesshomaru had recovered his composure and he quickly stepped forward. He stumbled over something and looked down to see the mother of Inuyasha's woman still sprawled on the ground where he had dropped her. Reaching down, he hauled her roughly to her feet. "Human, gather your family and leave us," he commanded. She looked horrified, but quickly walked to Sota and Grandpa. All three looked towards Kagome, obviously reluctant to leave her alone with the three demons. She tried to smile reassuringly at them, and she must have been at least semi-convincing, because after a moment, they finally turned and made their way into the house.

"I told you humans to leave us." It took Kagome a minute to realize that Sesshomaru was talking to her. Once she finally clued in, her face flushed and she opened her mouth to tell off the demon for trying to exclude her.

"Just leave her alone, Sesshomaru. It is her era, after all," stated the strange demon before she could say a word.

Sesshomaru looked at him like he was an insect. "I do not believe I was speaking to you," Sesshomaru stated coldly.

Inuyasha had been watching the two silently but he couldn't hold it in any longer. "Just who the hell are you!" Inuyasha screamed at the stranger.

"I told you already. I am your older brother. My name is Ilyomaru. All three of us share the same father." After saying this, Ilyomaru fell silent, his gaze roving from Sesshomaru to Inuyasha to Kagome and back again.

As the silence started to become unbearable, Kagome finally spoke up. "How did you and Sesshomaru get here?"

Ilyomaru gave her a tight-lipped smile at her and pointed at his long-haired brothers. "Why don't you ask one of these two?" he suggested. "It was their fault, not mine."

Kagome looked questioningly at Inuyasha. He shrugged."Me and Sesshomaru were fighting and we accidently destroyed the well." When those words left his mouth, Kagome gave a gasp of horror. Inuyasha continued on like he hadn't noticed."A wave of blue energy came at us and the next thing I knew, I was here." He finally stopped and the look on Kagome's face surprised him."What's wrong with you?"

"You destroyed the well? Don't you realize what that means?" Inuyasha shrugged."It means that we can never return to the Feudal Era."


	3. Awakening

**Awakening**

* * *

Inuyasha's jaw dropped when he heard that.

Kagome almost smirked at the sight of the stupid expression on his face, but then she thought about why that look was there in the first place, and it immediately got a lot less funny. It wasn't until she looked around at everybody that she remembered she was in the company of two more demons, one of whom was the Lord of the Western Lands. He would undoubtedly be pretty pissed off by the fact that he couldn't return home.

Before Sesshomaru could make his opinion known however, someone else spoke. "It's probably better that you two are trapped here right now, anyways," Ilyomaru stated. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru looked at him like he was insane.

"What the hell are you talking about? You think its better that we are stuck in an era that I know very little about, and he knows absolutely nothing about?" Inuyasha gestured Sesshomaru, an expression of disbelief on his face.

Ilyomaru nodded solemnly. "Trust me; you do not want to be in our era right now. Something big is about to go down. It would not be good if two of the most powerful beings were destroyed, and if you two were there when it happens, you would be hunted down and slaughtered, along with anyone who stands with you." Ilyomaru said this very seriously, but both brothers looked at him like he was crazy.

Sesshomaru was the first to speak up."Maybe Inuyasha could be destroyed that easily, but not me. I am Sesshomaru, Lord of the—"

Ilyomaru cut him off there with a raised hand. "We all know perfectly well who you are, and it makes no difference. This guy would take you out, regardless of how powerful you are." Sesshomaru looked skeptical at this statement but he remained silent.

Inuyasha spoke up next. "Well, if this guy is so powerful, what does he want to kill everyone for? I mean, what's the point. Apparently we're no threat to him." Sarcasm was not Inuyasha's strong suit, but his it was literally dripping from his last statement.

"He doesn't want to kill everyone, just those who have come in direct contact with the Shikon Jewel."

When she heard that, Kagome decided to stick her nose into the fray."Why does he want to do that?"

Ilyomaru looked at her, as if sizing her up. After a moment, he nodded. "Good question, mortal. This guy, he doesn't like the power the sacred jewel can bestow on a person. If used correctly, their power could rival those of the gods themselves. He has taken it upon himself to see that the jewel is never complete again. Anyone who has seen or touched a piece of it has felt its power, and he doesn't want them to get it into their heads to gather the rest of it. So he kills anyone who has touched or seen it. As we all know, both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru have handled the jewel. They would certainly be killed."

"Well then, what the hell are we supposed to do? Just sit around in this era until this guy gives up and goes back to wherever he came from?" Inuyasha asked, rather aggressively. Sesshomaru nodded in agreement. Despite their differences, neither ever backed down from a fight.

"He will not give up. Unless you have forgotten, your human here has in her possession seven shards of the jewel. Have no doubt, he will come for them." This was met with silence.

The statement was so shocking that Kagome even overlooked that he had called her Inuyasha's human. She quickly realized that there was one major glaring flaw in Ilyomaru's belief.

"I thought you said we are stuck here? If that is true, doesn't it mean that nobody can come here through the well?"

Ilyomaru grinned at that. "I never said he would come through the well. No, he will make his own portal, and once he is here, the only ones who will be able to stand up to him will be us."

"What do you mean he will open his own portal? Exactly how strong is this guy?" Inuyasha voiced the question, but it had been on everybody's minds.

"He is extremely powerful. Perhaps you have heard of him; his name is Kuttsoh-turas." Sesshomaru gasp of surprise drew the attention of Inuyasha and Kagome.

"What is it? Do you know him? Is he as powerful as Ilyomaru says he is?"

Kagome's question seemed to have caught Sesshomaru by surprise, because he actually answered without any hostility in his voice. "He is extremely powerful. He has to be. He is, after all, a god." This announcement was met by silence from everyone present.

Ilyomaru was the first to break the silence. "That is why I was watching you two battle. I was going to approach you and offer what little protection I could, but before I could announce my presence, you destroyed the well, and we ended up getting sucked into this era. It is better protection than I could have given you," he admitted in a soft voice.

Ilyomaru's confession prompted a question from Sesshomaru."Why have you not revealed your presence to either of us earlier?"

"To tell you the truth, I was, until quite recently, sealed up in a tomb. I had been left there, forever to sleep, by previous allies of our father. For four hundred years, I lay sealed within my tomb, until the explosion of power brought about by the destruction of the Shikon Jewel awakened me from my slumber. I should have immediately came to you and told you my tale, but instead, all I could think about was gaining my revenge on the demons that had sealed me away." His eyes started glaring red then. Kagome jumped back from him in fear, but he quickly regained control over himself and continued his story.

"Soon after being released, I found out that they had convinced my father that I had simply forfeited my duties and left. I now knew that my father was dead, along with my mother. I also learned that all of the demons who had participated in capturing my father had been killed during the period I had been sealed away. I also learned that I now had two brothers: one had taken my inheritance as Lord of the Western Lands, and the other was a half-breed." He looked up at that point, and noticed the uneasy expression on Sesshomaru's face. He had just declared that Sesshomaru had stolen what was rightly his.

Ilyomaru smirked and shook his head."Do not worry needlessly, Sesshomaru. I have no interest in ruling over any lands. They are yours, and will remain so. Anyways, after learning that my revenge was pointless, I resolved myself to learn more about my remaining family. It was easy to learn about you Sesshomaru; as a demon Lord, your antics are very well documented. Inuyasha, on the other hand, was a little harder to learn about. I learned that you had been sealed to a tree by a mortal priestess, fifty years prior to my awakening. I scoffed when I first heard that, but I quickly learned that it was true. Apparently, the weakness for human females runs in the family." Inuyasha blushed a bit at this, but Ilyomaru paid no attention to him. He just proceeded with his tale.

"I found out that you had been freed from your resting place and learned that you were now tracking down the shards of the scared jewel. I was told that you were seen traveling with a human demon slayer, a human monk, a small fox demon, and another human female, again with spiritual powers. Apparently she was the one who had shattered the jewel. At that time, I was made aware of another who was searching for the jewel; Naraku. I was disappointed when I learned that both of you had failed to destroy the creature. But, at that time, he was not my first priority. I watched as you and your humans continued on your adventure Inuyasha, and I watched as you grew closer to the human known as Kagome, even though you clearly still had feelings for the resurrected human priestess that had sealed you to a tree for fifty years. But at that same time, I heard a tale that shocked me. Sesshomaru had been seen traveling with a human child. I didn't believe it, until I saw it with my own eyes." Sesshomaru said nothing, but he was clearly uncomfortable when he was the topic of the conversations.

After a moment, Ilyomaru shrugged and went on with the story. "I watched as you, Inuyasha, were plagued with guilt over your new feelings for Kagome and your old feeling for Kikyo. And I watched as Kikyo was killed by Naraku. I watched as you abandoned his friends just to see if rumors of a wounded priestess wandering around were true. I continued to observe as you battled Naraku for his final shard, and I watched as he fled. I watched as everything started to fall apart. When you fought Naraku for the final time, and he managed to steal Kagome's nearly complete jewel, I thought it was over. I was about to interfere, but Sesshomaru beat me to the punch. I watched as the two of you worked together to destroy Naraku once and for all. But that wasn't the end. With his last bit of power, Naraku shattered the jewel once again and spread the shards throughout the land." Ilyomaru paused, and Kagome took the time to remember back on that time, and her feeling of horror as the jewel was shattered once again in front of her eyes.

Ilyomaru continued on then, clearly caught up in his memories. "When you and your friends continued on their quest, I knew something had changed. The monk no longer had a strong enough reason to continue and so he left the group to settle down with the demon slayer. The young fox left as well, to return to his home. The only ones left were you, Inuyasha, and you, Kagome. As you spent more time together, it was clear to me that you were growing apart. I noticed that the feelings you two once shared were quickly losing their intensity, transforming your feelings from lust and romantic love to nothing more than friendship and comfort with one another." This time, it was Kagome who blushed, realizing that what he had just said was the perfect dscription of her changing feelings for her half-demon comrade.

"During that time, I started to realize that the gods had become concerned . I quickly discerned the cause of their worry to be the Shikon Jewel. One god in particular, Kuttsoh-turas, seemed very angry. I knew it was only a matter of time before he came down from the Heavens to get rid of the jewel once and for all." He paused and looked up at Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. "I decided to reveal myself to you then, and warn you of the danger. I came across you two fighting like little children however, so I was forced to wait and see how your little battle played out. When I saw that the well was about to be destroyed, I knew what the implications would be. I tried to stop you, but I just wasn't quick enough. Now we are trapped here, until such time as Kuttsoh-turas comes for the shards of the jewel." He fell silent finally and focused his intense stare on his brothers.

Throughout the tale, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had remained quiet, but now Sesshomaru spoke up. "How long?" he inquired. When Ilyomaru raised an eyebrow in question, he clarified. "How long until Kuttsoh-turas comes here to kill us? How long will we be forced to stay in this era, with no other demons, surrounded only be humans and their contraptions?"

Inuyasha had been about to ask the same thing, but he quickly shut his mouth when Ilyomaru started to respond. "I do not know for sure. Judging by the amount of beings who have handled a piece of the jewel however, it could be as much as a month." At this statement, Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and Kagome all gasped in horror.

"Do you mean to tell me that I will be forced to put up with all three of you for a month?" Kagome screamed into Ilyomaru's face.

He simply smirked back at her. "If you think that is the worst aspect of this whole situation, you've got another thing coming, little girl."

"What do you mean?" Kagome asked him slowly, apprehension colouring her tone.

"Think about it for a minute. This is the future. We demons live a very long time. That means we might encounter our future selves, and we have no idea what may have happened to us over time. We could very well end up battling ourselves."


	4. Fitting In

**Fitting In

* * *

**

When Ilyomaru said this, he focused his gaze directly on Sesshomaru. Kagome noticed this and quickly realized why; Sesshomaru was extremely aggressive and would not back down from a fight, so what would happen if he met himself and they started fighting? Unless something had changed Sesshomaru drastically over the centuries, they would probably fight until one of them was dead.

Kagome was disrupted from her thoughts by the sudden appearance of the sun as it started to peek over the horizon. She almost didn't believe they had been talking all night. Suddenly a yawn split her mouth wide open however, and she quickly realized just how tired she was.

Ilyomaru noticed her action and spoke up. "Kagome, I believe you should return to your house and sleep. You will need to be rested in the coming days."

"Why?" She was surprised that a demon she barely knew was showing concern for her.

"We will need you around us, as a guide. In case you have forgotten, the only one of us who has ever been here before is Inuyasha, and he hasn't explored all that much. We know very little about this era."

As soon as he said this, Kagome saw the truth in his words and quickly nodded. Turning to Inuyasha, she said, "I'm going to bed. Please keep an eye on Sesshomaru. The last thing we need is for him to kill some poor guy. Okay?" Inuyasha nodded."Okay then, see you guys later. Also, please don't leave the property. If someone saw one of you leaping above the city, it might draw some unwanted attention." With that said, Kagome turned and made her way inside the house. She paused briefly in the kitchen, to reassure her family that everything was going to be all right, before heading upstairs and passing out in her bed.

Once Kagome had departed, the three brothers turned to each other. Sesshomaru looked slightly annoyed, which drew a shrug from Inuyasha. "She's just a human Sesshomaru; she needs to sleep. You got a problem with it?"

Sesshomaru was never one to hold back his inner thoughts. "She is the only one who can guide us through this era, Inuyasha. If we are going to have to do battle in this time, we should learn all the things about it. Now we are forced to wait for her to awaken."

Inuyasha looked like he was about jump Sesshomaru, so Ilyomaru interfered. "Come on now, Sesshomaru. If she didn't rest now, she would only have to rest later. It's better to get it over with sooner." Sesshomaru considered this for a moment before nodding his acceptance. With a barely audible sigh, he suddenly sat down on the steps to the shrine. With Ilyomaru and Inuyasha looking on, he closed his eyes and faded into sleep, never once shifting from his seated position.

"Weird guy," muttered Inuyasha. Glancing at Ilyomaru, he leaped up into the highest branches of the sacred tree. Perched comfortably on one of the thicker limbs, he too quickly fell asleep.

Now that Ilyomaru was all alone, he took the opportunity to look around and check out his surroundings. The thing that drew most of his attention was Kagome's house. It was quite large, much larger than the common hut most Feudal Japanese humans resided in. As he looked at it, his curiosity got the better of him, and he slowly made his way over to the door.

With only a slight bit of hesitation, he threw the door open and walked inside, ducking at the last moment to avoid smashing his head against the top of the doorway. The first thing he saw was Kagome's family sitting around a table, talking quietly. Kagome's mother was quick to take not of his presence. She looked up and gasped in surprise. He held up his hands in a sign of peace and moved towards the table.

"I mean you no harm. I was simply curious about your house."

At his words, she calmed noticeably and smiled. "Excuse me for asking, but what was your name again?"

Smiling politely, he inclined his head toward her. "My name is Ilyomaru. I am the brother of Inuyasha." She nodded in understanding.

Before she could stop him, Sota posed his own question. "Who is the demon that only has one arm? What happened to him?" Ilyomaru smiled at the child's curiosity.

"His name is Sesshomaru and he is mine and Inuyasha's brother. As for his arm, Inuyasha cut it off with his sword, the Tetsusaiga," Ilyomaru explained to the curious boy.

"Why did Inuyasha cut his arm off? You just said that they're brothers." Sota was confused as to why two siblings would act so violently to each other. He knew that Kagome sometimes acted rude to him, but he also knew that she would never do any lasting physical harm to him.

"Let's just say that Inuyasha and Sesshomaru do not get along very well. Now, I have a question for you, mother of Kagome. When Kagome awakens, will you tell her to come speak to me, before she awakens my brothers? It is important." Kagome's mother nodded her agreement."All right then. Do you mind if I explore the rest of your house? I find it terribly interesting." Once again, Kagome's mother nodded in agreement. Smiling, Ilyomaru turned and began his exploration.

The first thing he came across was a black box, sitting on a small table. Ilyomaru noticed that there were small pieces sticking off of it. Reaching down, he pushed at one of the pieces and jumped back in surprise as loud sounds started emitting from it. Then he saw a picture appear on the box. Looking behind him, he noticed a couch, so he sat down on it. The piece of furniture sagged under his considerable weight as he leaned back and continued to observe the strange box. From the voices emitting from it, he deduced that it was some type of news teller.

So caught up in the wonder of the strange box, Ilyomaru lost track of time. Hours passed as he sat there, entranced by the strange device. Never before had he seen such a thing and the amazement he felt was not quick to fade.

Meanwhile, Kagome had slept for about six hours and woke up feeling refreshed. Getting out of bed, she went for a quick shower, then threw on some fresh clothing and made her way downstairs. The first person she came across was her mother. The older woman was standing at the kitchen sink and she looked up as Kagome entered the room.

"Kagome dear," she began, "your large friend asked me to ask you if you would go talk to him as soon as you woke up."

Kagome had to think a minute before remembering who her mother was talking about. Then her memories came rushing back; Ilyomaru, Inuyasha's eldest brother. "Where is he?" she asked her mother. With her hand, the older woman gestured towards the living room. Kagome quickly turned and entered the indicated room. She immediately heard the familiar voice of one of the local news anchors. She immediately spotted Ilyomaru resting on her couch, staring intently at the television. He looked up when he heard Kagome enter the room and smiled broadly.

"What is the name of this device, Kagome?" he inquired, pointing towards the television set.

"It's called a television. It broadcasts pictures and sounds to keep us entertained and informed. You're watching the local news station right now. It lets us know what is happening all around the city," she explained. Ilyomaru nodded and went back to watching the television. Kagome watched him for a minute before remembering why she was there.

"Ilyomaru—" she started, but he cut her off.

"Please, call me Ilyo. You are too pretty to be addressing me so formally." Kagome blushed at the compliment but went back to asking her question.

"All right then, Ilyo. Why did you want to speak with me?" Getting off of the couch, Ilyo moved to stand before Kagome. Standing straight, Kagome realized just how tall Ilyo was. She gulped visibly.

Ilyo noticed her reaction to his intimidating appearance and an amused expression formed on his face. "There is no need to fear, Kagome. I am not some bloodthirsty beast. I was raised in a family of royalty. I learned at an early age to treat women properly." Kagome relaxed visibly at his statement, although she still remained a bit apprehensive about him.

"Anyways, we both know that eventually, we will meet our future selves. I know they are alive; I can sense their demonic energy. I don't wish to upset you, but I can also sense Inuyasha. You know that he is only a half-demon. Although they do have a very long lifespan, they cannot live for five hundred years. Do you know what that means?" he asked her gently.

Kagome tried to make the connection but it just wouldn't come to her. She puzzled over it for a moment, her face screwed up into an expression of concentration. Suddenly, it hit her and she gasped loudly. "Do you mean that—?"

Ilyomaru cut her off before she could finish. "Yes. It means that Inuyasha has become a full-blooded demon. When we meet him, he will be different from the half-demon you've known for the last several years. You have to promise me not to do anything rash. We need you as a guide, so we can't have you getting injured or even killed by Inuyasha's full-demon self."

Kagome nodded, her thoughts already turned to the horror she would feel if she saw Inuyasha turned evil, into a killer.

Her musings were disturbed when Ilyo loudly cleared his throat. She looked up and he motioned for her to follow him. Nodding, she turned and followed him outside. Ilyo noticed that Sesshomaru was still sitting on the steps, but he was no longer sleeping. Inuyasha, on the other hand, was not where Ilyo had left him. Turning, Ilyo spotted him reclining comfortably on Kagome's roof.

"Inuyasha, come here. We need to plan out what we'll be doing while we are stuck here." Inuyasha looked up at the sound of Kagome's voice. He leaped off the roof, landing lightly on his feet in front of Kagome. Completely ignoring his brothers, he turned to Kagome.

"What is there to plan? The way I figure it, we might as well relax."

Sesshomaru looked at him like he was an idiot. "Are you stupid, little brother?" he asked coldly. "While in this era, we should learn as much about the culture as we can. In case you have forgotten, we will most likely be meeting our future selves and we would do well to know as much as they do." Ilyo nodded in agreement.

Inuyasha realized the truth in his brother's word, but he did not want to admit it. Instead, he looked at Kagome and asked, "All right then. What are we going to do?"

Kagome thought for a moment and then her face brightened."Well, I have an idea. First though, I'm going to have to find some appropriate clothing for you."

Sesshomaru's eyes narrowed at that. "What do you mean find some appropriate clothing? What is wrong with my clothing?"

He appeared rather displeased, so Kagome quickly changed her wording. "I didn't mean that there is anything wrong with your clothing, it's just that the people from this era do not dress like you do. I figure that it would be easiest if you guys simply dress more like modern people do. That way, we will hopefully avoid any difficult questions and we won't draw as much attention to ourselves."

Sesshomaru still looked displeased, but Ilyo realized the sense in her words. "She is right, Sesshomaru. It would be best if we drew as little attention to ourselves as possible." Sesshomaru reluctantly agreed.

Ilyo turned back to Kagome."Now then, since that has been settled, what did you have in mind for today?"

"Well since you guys need to fit in," she said, "I figure that the first thing we could do is go shopping!"


	5. Shopping

**Shopping**

* * *

As soon as the word 'shopping' left Kagome's mouth, Inuyasha's face fell. He groaned loudly and rolled his eyes. From his reaction, Ilyo deduced that shopping was not going to be enjoyable. Since Kagome had suggested it however, he figured it must be important.

Turning to Inuyasha, he patted him on the shoulder. "Come on, Inuyasha; it can't be all that bad." Inuyasha looked at him with a depressed look in his eyes.

"You'll see," was all he said.

Smiling at her friend's reaction, Kagome motioned for the three brothers to follow her. Sesshomaru immediately rose to his feet and made his way over to her. Grumbling to himself, Inuyasha followed in his brother's footsteps. Ilyo looked around the yard one last time, then he too followed suit.

Kagome gestured for the three demons to remain outside, as she entered her house. She returned a minute later, holding a small, plastic card. Ilyo looked at it quizzically."What is that, Kagome?"

"It's called a credit card. When we pay for our purchases, all we have to do is show the sales clerk this," she held up the card, "and we can pay at a later date." Ilyo nodded his understanding.

"You guys ready?" Kagome inquired a moment later. Once they all nodded, she turned and led them off down the street. As they walked, Kagome thought out loud about what kind of clothing each brother would need.

"Now for you Inuyasha, I think nearly anything will do, but we'll have to get you a hat, to cover his ears. For you Sesshomaru, something more formal, like a suit or something. I can totally picture you as a businessman. If only we could cover those markings on your face; not many business men have face tattoos." She sighed and the shrugged. "Oh well, nothing we can do about it I guess." Pausing for a second, Kagome turned and looked at Ilyo's clothes. She observed him appraisingly for a moment before nodding. "Hmmm, you're clothing seems pretty normal. If only we could hide your ears. Would you wear a hat?"

Ilyo looked amused at that. "No, Kagome, but don't worry. I like to think that I'm intimidating enough to stop people from asking questions." Kagome had to agree with that; he was intimidating as hell.

By the time Kagome was finished giving out her fashion advice, the foursome had arrived outside of a small clothing store. "Here we are," Kagome announced cheerily. Sesshomaru eyed the building with a bit of suspicion, but when Kagome entered without hesitation, all three brothers followed without question. The interior of the store however, gave all three of them a pause. There were articles of clothing everywhere, covering every available surface. There were more clothes than any of them had ever seen in one place.

While the brothers were looking around in amazement, Kagome quickly approached the cashier and gestured back towards the three. "I'm looking for some new outfits for two of my friends, the one in red and the one in white." The cashier glanced at the two brothers and motioned for them to come closer.

"What exactly are you looking for?" the lady inquired.

Kagome fielded the question. "Well, I was hoping for something fun and casual for my friend in the red and something more formal and business-like for my friend in the white." The woman looked at Inuyasha and Sesshomaru for confirmation, drawing nods from both of them.

"All right, please follow me." Turning, she led the two demons into a back room. Kagome waited impatiently to see what the two would look like in modern clothing. She didn't have to wait long.

Mere moments after leaving, Inuyasha returned from the back. He was now clothed in baggy blue jeans and a black t-shirt with a red dragon on it. _He looks good_, Kagome thought.

When Sesshomaru came into view a second later, Kagome was struck speechless. Standing tall in a jet black suit, with a white shirt underneath, and a blue tie, he looked stunning. It took her a minute to realize he didn't have that feathery thing he always carried around with him. _I guess it comes off, _she thought. Kagome quit staring long enough to hear the cashier ask the brother if they were satisfied.

"Perfect," Kagome said loudly, "I think we're all set." Going to the cash register, Kagome pulled out her credit card and was about pay, before she remembered one more thing. "Umm, excuse me, but do you also carry hats?"

"What kind of hat were you looking for?" the cashier inquired.

Kagome thought for a minute before replying. "Well, just a simple baseball cap would do. It's for my friend here." She gestured to Inuyasha. "It's for his ears; a birth defect. He gets uncomfortable when people ask about them."

The cashier nodded sympathetically. "Just one minute." She disappeared into the back room once again and returned momentarily, holding a blue baseball cap with flame decals on the sides.

Kagome grinned happily and quickly paid for her purchases. The cashier had placed Inuyasha's and Sesshomaru's old clothing into two bags, so Kagome grabbed them, nodded politely to the lady and headed for the door. The three brothers fell into line behind her as she led them back out onto the street.

Once they were outside, she turned to face Inuyasha and Sesshomaru, a nervous expression on her. "Well, what do you think of your new clothes?"

Inuyasha just shrugged indifferently, but Sesshomaru had something to say. "They fit me quite well. I like them," he announced, surprising Kagome and prompting a happy smile to appear on her face.

"All right then. Come on guys, let's get going." All three demons nodded and the group started off down the street.

Just as they were approaching a small restaurant, four people came around a corner a short way down the road. "Kagome!" one of them yelled. She looked up at the sound of her name being called and quickly recognized her friends; Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi. With them was...

"Kagome!"

_Oh no,_ Kagome thought,_ it's Hojo_. She hadn't seen him in nearly a year, after point blank refusing to date him. She had told him that she had a boyfriend and he had looked so broken up by her words. By nature, Kagome was a soft-hearted person, so she had told him maybe if she ever broke up with her boyfriend, she'd give him a shot. Although she had let him down kind of easy, she had made it perfectly clear she was happy with her current relationship and had no plans to end it anytime soon. Unfortunately, that had been while she was still kind of seeing Inuyasha, and she had since told her friends that they were no longer an item. She had no doubt that Hojo had already been told about her lack of a current boyfriend.

After yelling her name, Hojo ran towards her with his arms open. Ilyo noticed this and he also noticed how uncomfortable Kagome had become. Quickly coming to a decision, he interposed his body between Kagome and the oncoming male. Unable to halt his mad rush, Hojo was brought to an abrupt stop as a huge, clawed hand closed around his throat and lifted him off of his feet.

Kagome looked at Ilyo in surprise. She noticed that he wasn't choking Hojo, just holding him, so she waited quietly until Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi reached them. They looked on in surprise at the giant of a man who had stepped in front of Kagome and was now holding Hojo about a foot and a half off of the ground.

"Put him down!" Eri yelled at Ilyo. He looked at Kagome for confirmation and she nodded. Ilyo shrugged and dropped the human, but he remained standing protectively in front of Kagome, as Inuyasha and Sesshomaru looked on in confusion.

Hojo got to his feet, nervously rubbing his injured neck. He said nothing and left the talking to Kagome's female friends. As the three girls came forward, Inuyasha quickly turned and went back to hide in an alley. They had met him before, and he really didn't want to answer any questions about what had gone wrong between him and Kagome.

"Who is this guy Kagome? All Hojo wanted was a hug. We told him that you broke up with your boyfriend." Ayumi had said this all very fast and it took Kagome a second to process it all. When she did, she was struck by an idea and acted on it.

"This is my new boyfriend, Ilyo." Silence greeted this announcement. The three girls turned appraising eyes towards Ilyo. Hojo turned white and backed up another step.

Ilyo, meanwhile, had been about to turn and look at Kagome, but then he had caught onto her ploy and grinned. Throwing out a long arm, he drew Kagome closer to his side and smiled down at her friends.

Yuka was the first to speak up."He looks like your old boyfriend, Inuyasha." Kagome was about to say something but Ilyo beat her to the punch.

"Inuyasha is my little brother." Kagome's friends looked horrified at that. Kagome quickly remembered telling her friends about how violent Inuyasha's brother was. She of course, had been talking about Sesshomaru. She quickly explained.

"This is Inuyasha's eldest brother. The one I told you about is Sesshomaru." As Ilyo released her, she turned and pointed."This is Sesshomaru." The girls looked at him, and each raised their eyes. He cut quite a striking figure in his black suit. Nodding in acknowledgement of their stares, he continued to look around with an expression of boredom on his face. The girls turned their attention back to Kagome and Ilyo.

"Where did you meet each other?" Eri questioned.

Ilyo was not used to being interrogated in such a manner but he stayed calm and quietly answered. They were just concerned with Kagome's well being, after all. "We met at Inuyasha's eighteenth birthday. The two of them stopped seeing each other soon after and we started going out. Things progressed from there." Kagome's friends seemed to except the explanation.

Then Yuka spoke up. "Exactly how old are you? Kagome's only eighteen you know."

Kagome looked at her friend furiously for asking such a personal question, but Ilyo merely smiled. "I am twenty-two. Not too old, I think." Yuka nodded. It was an acceptable age.

Finally, Ayumi had to have her say. "And what are your plans for the future?" When Ilyo looked at her in confusion, she attempted to clarify the question. "I mean, what do you plan to do for a job to support yourself and Kagome?" Ilyo was still unsure, but he attempted to answer the question anyways.

"Well, I'm actually quite wealthy. I have no need to work. I'm pretty sure we can live comfortably," he answered confidently. Kagome's friends all seemed extremely happy to find out that Ilyo was rich. The silently smiled up at him and he held their gazes until they grew uncomfortable and had to look away.

Suddenly, a sobbing sound caught everyone's attention. Ilyo looked down to see the male on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. At first, Ilyo was taken aback. He hadn't squeezed his throat that hard. The real source of the human's tears was revealed a moment later.

Getting to his feet, Hojo threw himself upon Kagome and continued to sob as he started talking. "Kagome, I waited for you to break up with your old boyfriend. When I heard that you finally had, I was overjoyed. But once again, you have broken my heart." Hojo wouldn't let go of her, even though she was struggling to free herself from his grasp.

Seeing the human wrapped around Kagome, Ilyo started feeling hatred course through him. He felt very protective of her for some reason.

Reaching down, he grabbed the human by the back of the neck and ripped him off of Kagome. Growling deep in his throat, he lifted the quivering coward to his eye level. "She is mine!" he growled into the human's terrified face. Then, turning, he effortlessly hurled the sobbing boy through the large glass window of the nearby restaurant.


	6. Sesshomaru

**Sesshomaru**

* * *

The glass shattered into a million pieces as Hojo went crashing through it. Luckily, no one was sitting by the window because after going through it, Hojo smashed into the table directly in front of it. He groaned once and tried to rise to his feet, before giving up and collapsing in an unconscious heap.

Kagome's friends looked at Ilyo in horror as the owner of the restaurant dashed out the front door and loudly demanded to know who had thrown the young man through his front window. Kagome attempted to explain what had happened, but the owner refused to listen. Then, sirens filled the air. _Oh crap_ Kagome thought, s_omebody must have called the cops._ Fortunately however, it was an ambulance that pulled up, not a cop car. She knew the cops couldn't be far behind though.

Kagome turned, and taking Ilyo's hand, attempted to lead him away from the scene of the crime. The owner of the restaurant quickly stepped in front of them. "Just where do you two think you're going? I believe you ought to pay for the damages to my establishment," he said angrily. Kagome's mind started racing.

_How the hell am I going to pay for this? There's no way mom's credit card will cover it, _she thought despairingly. Then, something odd happened. Sesshomaru stepped forward and confronted the owner. Kagome cringed in expectation of what was to come, but as the scene unfolded, she quickly grew surprised.

"Here, I believe this will cover the expenses." Sesshomaru handed a small piece of paper over to the owner. The man's beady little eyes went wide as he looked at whatever was written on it.

"Yes, this should just about cover it, sir. Thank you." With that, the owner scurried back inside the restaurant to calm his patrons.

Kagome could only gape at Sesshomaru, surprise slackening her features. "What the hell?" she finally burst out. He looked over at her and smiled. Kagome's eyes went wide. She had never seen him smile with any real sincerity in the expression. Suddenly, she noticed that Ilyo had gone rigid beside her. Kagome turned and followed his gaze, only to see Sesshomaru standing behind them. Listening closely, she could hear him growling. It only took a moment for her to make the connection.

"Holy crap, you're the Sesshomaru from this era, aren't you?" This question was directed to the Sesshomaru who had paid off the owner of the restaurant. He smiled broadly.

"Indeed I am. Who else would I be?" Kagome averted her eyes, feeling stupid for asking such a dumb question. When she looked back up, present day Sesshomaru had moved around her to stand directly in front of his past self, who was still growling deep in his throat. Present day Sesshomaru looked at him sadly and stared pointedly at his missing arm. Past Sesshomaru stopped growling and then reached out and gripped the arm of his counterpart. It was the arm that was supposed to be missing.

Past Sesshomaru looked up at his counterpart, confusion colouring his normally unmoving features. "I was under the impression that my arm was not going to grow back. Yet that is definitely my arm; I can see the markings. If it was the arm of somebody else, it would not be marked. How did this occur?"

Present day Sesshomaru smiled mysteriously. "I believe that before we start any tales, you should first accompany me back to my home." Without further ado, he whirled around and walked off down the road, stopping in front of a long, black limousine that was parked around the block. Kagome immediately followed him, pulling Ilyo along behind. Sesshomaru stood still for a minute, contemplating before he too followed the retreating form of his future self.

It was only when they had all clambered into the limo that Kagome realized someone was missing. Turning to Ilyo, she asked him if he had noticed where Inuyasha had disappeared to.

Pointedly looking away from her, he was silent a moment before responding. "He snuck off when we encountered the humans. I sensed some reluctance from him to be seen by them. Right now, he is returning to your home. I can sense his aura."

Kagome felt slightly hurt that Ilyo seemed very reluctant to look at her. She just couldn't figure out why. They weren't an actual a couple, after all. That had just been a lie she had formulated when she saw Hojo. She still felt upset that he wouldn't meet her gaze though.

Both Sesshomaru's noticed the expression on her face and glanced at each other. Although their faces remained emotionless, both thought the same thing: _this won't end well. _The rest of the car ride was silent, punctuated only by the sound of Kagome's clothing rustling as she leaned against the window.

Finally, the car slowed and came to a halt. Present day Sesshomaru opened the door and quickly exited the car. His three guests followed suit and then stood in silence, staring up at his house. It was huge. Castle was probably a better word to describe it. Kagome looked at the past Sesshomaru and was startled to see a look of longing on his face as he stared at the castle.

"What's up with you, Sesshomaru? Haven't you ever seen a castle before?" she joked. When he looked at her, a solemn expression on his face, her smile disappeared. She hadn't expected him to react, so she was shocked when answered her.

"I have seen this castle before. It is mine," he said, turning to his future self, "I'm surprised that you kept it for this long." The present day Sesshomaru stared at the castle, an odd look on his face.

"I couldn't just sell it; it is the only reminder of the days when I was still Lord of the Western Lands. Now, even though I am a still powerful, I no longer rule over this land like I once did." He said this with a look of such longing in his eyes Kagome couldn't help but find herself feeling sorry for the demon lord.

After a moment of silence, present day Sesshomaru looked up, his expression once again a black mask. "Well, that's enough of that. Please, follow me." With that, he made his way over the massive double doors that served as the main entrance to the castle.

Kagome trailed after him and was struck speechless upon entering the ancient domicile. The door opened up onto a giant hallway, which was adorned by pieces of artwork and small wooden tables holding beautiful vases and small ornaments. Many doorways could be seen on both sides of the hall, branching off into other parts of the edifice. At the far end of the hall was a colossal staircase, which appeared to lead up to a second, third, and fourth floor. Kagome just stood there gaping, until Ilyo came up behind her and gently nudged her forward. Taking the hint, she continued to follow Sesshomaru. He led them up the staircase to the second floor.

Once they reached the second floor, he turned left and led them down a short hallway. At the end of the hallway was a small door, which opened up into a medium sized room, with a couple plush couches and chairs. "Please, sit and make yourselves comfortable. I will return momentarily." He walked back through the doorway and disappeared. While he was gone, Ilyo and Kagome seated themselves. Sesshomaru remained standing however, his emotionless face staring straight ahead.

Present day Sesshomaru wasn't gone for long. When he returned, Kagome noticed he had removed his formal business suit, and was clad in clothing very similar to the clothing he used to wear in the Feudal Era. He smiled at Kagome's questioning look. "I feel more comfortable in these clothes. I did wear them for hundreds of years after all, and they are very comfortable." Kagome nodded at this explanation.

Suddenly, a serious expression came over present day Sesshomaru's face. He quickly seated himself in a chair directly across from where Ilyo had seated himself.

"Now, I would like to know exactly who you are. You smell very familiar."

Now it was Ilyo's turn to smirk. "Surely you recognize a brother when you see one."

Sesshomaru's eyes opened wide at that, shock registering on his features. A moment later however, he nodded, a contemplative look taking over for the previous shock. "So you are my brother? I presume something happened to keep you from contacting me years ago?"

Ilyo nodded. "I have already told my tale once today, and it is a long one. Suffice it to say that I was sealed away four hundred years prior to the shattering of the Shikon Jewel. I was awoken when it shattered and spent several years learning all I could about my remaining family members. Then, about three years after the jewel was broken, I sensed that the gods were becoming angry with the power of the jewel and I attempted to contact you and Inuyasha. I came upon you two fighting at the time-traveling well. The well was destroyed and we were all sucked into this era. Now, an angry god is collecting the shards of the jewel, and killing all who have come into contact with it. He will come for Kagome. It's only a matter of time."

Sesshomaru absorbed this information calmly before voicing another question."I see. Now let me ask you something else. Why is it that a future version of yourself has not contacted me? You said you awakened five hundred years ago; a powerful demon such as yourself would surely remain alive after a mere five centuries."

Ilyo considered that for minute before answering. "I'm afraid that is a complicated matter. It is very difficult to explain, but I will try. When I was younger, my power was immense and growing at an exponential rate. Before long, the gods themselves feared I would grow more powerful than even they were, so they decreed that only one version of me could ever exist at once. Since I am here right now, no other forms of me exist anywhere in time." He shook his head and chuckled humourlessly. "It's all very complicated. Anyways, they figured that if I were ever able to travel through time and team up with a future version of myself, that we would destroy them and take their place. A ridiculous notion, but still, they went ahead with their plan. Now, I can only exist day by day. If someone was to live a day with me, and then relived that day by magic or something, I would not be in the second day. That's as clear as I can make it I'm afraid."

Kagome was completely confused by Ilyo's explanation but she noticed that both Sesshomaru's appeared to be nodding in at least partial understanding.

Then, surprising everyone, past Sesshomaru asked a question. "How did you regain your arm?"

Present day Sesshomaru looked uneasy at the question. He glanced briefly at Kagome, and to her surprise, there was sadness evident in his gaze. "To answer that question, I must bring up a subject which may be hard for Kagome to hear." She was surprised, but indicated that he should continue his tale. "About two and a half years after the jewel was shattered for the second time, I came across Kagome alone in a field. At the time, I had become very bitter about losing my arm. She said she was sorry for the arm, and as she said it, she touched my shoulder. As she was talking, we both began to glow, and before our eyes, my arm began to regenerate. Once the glow faded, my arm had been completely re-grown, exactly as it had been prior to being hacked off by Inuyasha. She seemed as surprised as I was. I was overjoyed, and in my happiness, I embraced her. It was a momentary lapse of judgment, and Inuyasha just happened to arrive in time to witness us. Even though he had seemed to have lost his feelings for Kagome, he still flew into a blind rage at the sight of us. Before I could stop him, he slew her and took the completed sacred jewel from her dead body. Before my eyes, I watched him change from a half-demon to a full-blooded demon. He now works for me, as a sort of traveling agent, scoping out other companies." He ended his tale there, staring at Kagome apprehensively.

Kagome had barely heard him. Her mind had glazed over at the statement that Inuyasha had slain her. Even past Sesshomaru looked shocked at the announcement. Present day Sesshomaru just looked at her with sadness shining from his eyes. Suddenly, he looked up. Turning back to his guests, he motioned for them to rise.

"Brace yourselves; Inuyasha is coming. I must warn you, he has changed greatly from the half-demon that you all know. He may attempt to kill you all." As he said this, the door was suddenly opened with great force and a deep growl filled the air.


	7. Inuyasha

**Inuyasha**

* * *

An unfamiliar man stepped into the room.

At first, Kagome didn't recognize him, but she quickly realized that the demon before her was Inuyasha. He looked very different from her half-demon friend. First of all, he was dressed in a dark blue suit, which was very different from any clothing Kagome had ever seen him wear before. Looking at his face, Kagome noted that his features looked much more refine, like Sesshomaru, and his amber eyes had turned into a deep golden colour. On each cheek was a single red slash mark. His hair was a lot shorter as well. Before, it had fallen to the middle of his back, but now it was cut in much the same fashion as Ilyo.

The major difference between the new Inuyasha and the old one however, was the feeling of his aura. Before, he had always seemed a bit angry and bitter at the world. Now, all she felt coming from him was hatred and a powerful desire to kill. It made her shudder.

"Inuyasha," she whispered, saddened by the thing her friend had become. As Inuyasha looked around the room, his gaze fell on each person in turn. His gaze passed over his brother and Ilyo with no expression. When he saw the second Sesshomaru, he got a confused look in his eyes, but he said nothing. However, when his gaze fell on Kagome, his eyes widened and he looked like he was about to collapse.

"You're dead. I killed you five hundred years ago," he said loudly. Rounding on present day Sesshomaru, he started yelling. "Why did you bring her here? I told you I never wanted to see her again. You swore that you would not contact her." Raising his clawed hand, he back handed his brother off of the couch he was standing in front of. When Sesshomaru didn't get up right away, Kagome went to him with concern. She knelt down beside him and attempted to lift him to his feet. Seeing Kagome with her arms around Sesshomaru once again set Inuyasha off.

Leaping across the room at Kagome and his brother, he was about to land on them when a massive body interposed itself protectively in front of them.

Catching Inuyasha with a massive hand around the throat, Ilyo quickly hurled the enraged demon back across the room and through the wooden door. With a snarl, Inuyasha leapt back into the room, landing directly in front of Ilyo.

Inuyasha brought his clawed fist around, attempting to hit Ilyo in the stomach, but his attempt was foiled when Ilyo simply brought his own arm crashing down, knocking the strike aside. The next time Inuyasha struck, he extended his claws fully, and brought them down, attempting to slash open Ilyo's chest. This time, Ilyo reached out and caught Inuyasha's arm before the attack could connect with his flesh.

With his arm caught, Inuyasha smirked, and tried to power out of Ilyo's grasp. His smirk of confidence quickly changed to an expression of anger when he realized that he couldn't overpower Ilyo. He struggled viciously, until Ilyo, getting annoyed, brought his fist crashing down on Inuyasha's skull, immediately rendering him unconscious.

Dropping the comatose demon to the floor, Ilyo turned to Kagome and Sesshomaru. Bending, he hauled Sesshomaru to his feet, watching as blooded flowed freely from a gash on his cheek.

Past Sesshomaru looked at his future self in disgust. "You're pathetic!" he exploded. "How could a weak attack like that do such damage to a demon like me? You must have allowed yourself to become weak over time."

He just had time to spit out these words before he was pinned to a wall by his throat. "You think I have become weak. Please. It is Inuyasha who has become strong. In the past five hundred years, he has cultivated inner strengths and powers that I have never seen any other demon possess. He has become incredibly powerful. He no longer needs the Tetsusaiga to unleash the wind scar; he can now do that with his own claws." He shook his head, his grip never on his counterpart's neck never weakening. "It is amazing to watch. I fear he has now even surpassed me in power. I've never tested that theory though. Frankly, I don't want to know, if the cost would be my life." All throughout his tirade, he had remained with his hand pinning past Sesshomaru to the wall. Once he fell silent, however, he let past Sesshomaru go.

Kagome watched this all in silence, wondering what would have happened if Ilyo had not saved them.

Her musings were interrupted a second later by present day Sesshomaru talking to Ilyo. "That was spectacular. I've never seen someone with as much power as Inuyasha beaten down like a child before. I must admit that when you told me of your power, I was highly doubtful, but seeing that, I am impressed." Ilyo merely nodded in acknowledgment of the compliment. Then, present day Sesshomaru sat down again. "Now, earlier you said something about a god coming to collect the shards from Kagome. Now, I must ask, if you are so powerful, can't you protect her?"

Kagome had thought about that to. However, Ilyo had the answer. "Even though I am powerful, we are talking about a god here. He can do things we could only dream about. I can keep her safe for a while, but eventually, he will get her. I alone can't hold him off forever."

Sesshomaru nodded in understanding. "Well, it's quite a predicament you are in. What can I do to help?"

Although Kagome heard the words come out of Sesshomaru's mouth, she still couldn't believe that he was offering to help her. She was so accustomed to the cold, unfeeling Sesshomaru.

Ilyo pondered the question for a minute before answering. "I was hoping that you would allow us to stay here. It is my hope that the presence of so many powerful demons will overshadow the power emitted by the Shikon Jewel shards. Theoretically, this would make it considerably harder for Kuttsoh-turas to track Kagome down."

Present day Sesshomaru thought about this for a minute, before replying. "Your idea is a good one, my brother. You all can stay here, if you want. I will send a man to Kagome's house to tell her mother where she is. The man can also bring Inuyasha, your Inuyasha, back here with him."

Ilyo nodded and turned to Kagome with a smile on his face. "So, what do you think? Living in a castle is pretty cool, right?"

Kagome smiled back and nodded. Then her thoughts turned to the stationary body lying sprawled on the floor. "What's going to keep him from killing us while we're sleeping?" she inquired of Sesshomaru.

He grinned openly at her fears. "Don't worry. I can make it so that he can't set foot inside of this castle. Just don't go wandering around outside unless one of us is with you." Kagome indicated her understanding as present day Sesshomaru whistled, summoning two servants, who picked up Inuyasha's unconscious form and left the room.

Sesshomaru motioned for his three guests to follow him. He led them up the stairs, past the third floor, all the way up to the fourth floor. They followed him through a wide doorway, into yet another hallway. This one had closed doors all the way along its length.

Pointing to the first door on the right, he said, "Kagome, this will be your room. You can examine it if you wish." Kagome nodded happily and entered the room, closing the door behind her.

Sesshomaru started off again with Ilyo and the past Sesshomaru trailing along behind him. They got to the end of the hallway and then turned right, which led to another hallway. The new hall was identical to the one they had just left. Walking to the end, he indicated the last door on the left, and said, "Ilyomaru, this will be your room. Please, feel free to inspect it." Ilyo nodded and entered the room, leaving both Sesshomaru's standing in the hall.

Past Sesshomaru looked at his future self before speaking."What exactly are you attempting to do?"

"What do you mean by that?" was the innocent reply.

Past Sesshomaru wasn't buying it. "I know my way through every hallway and room in this castle, and I know that the two rooms you just put them in are connecting rooms. You shouldn't encourage this type of thing."

Present day Sesshomaru looked slightly put out after being lectured by himself, but he quickly recovered his composure. "Come on. You know as well as I do that a weakness for human women runs in the blood of every member of this family and it is as plain as day that Kagome already cares for Ilyo. Why not let the two of them be happy?" The reply startled him.

"Will they be happy? She will age and die as he remains young. That kind of happiness is short-lived and vaguely satisfying at best. All that you are really doing is setting them up for a fall."

Present day Sesshomaru realized the wisdom in his counterpart's words. He didn't fully agree with him though.

"Regardless of what you say, it is my belief that these things will work out in the end. It may sound corny, but it's the how I feel." After saying his piece, present day Sesshomaru turned and made his way back down the hall, leaving past Sesshomaru standing outside of Ilyo's door. Before he left, he thought about the words he had just heard.

"I hope that you will be happy, Ilyomaru, but it is my belief that happiness is denied to those of us who are destined for great things." He uttered these words quietly before turning and walking off.

Little did either Sesshomaru know, but Ilyo had heard every word they had said. Sitting on his bed, he gazed at the small door that he assumed led to Kagome's room. Contemplating his future, he thought back to the days before he had been confined to his tomb.

There had been many women in his past. He was, after all, the handsome son of one of the most powerful lords of the era. But he had not loved any of them. They had been a way for him to satisfy himself, nothing more. After awakening from his four hundred year sleep, he had been consumed with desire for revenge; all other wants and needs had been pushed aside. Now, looking back, he wondered if he was even capable of love. True, he had cared for his parents, but they were never all that close. Now he wondered if the feelings he had developed in the short time of knowing Kagome were real, or if they were just personification of his natural inclination to help people.

He was still pondering his fate when he heard a small scream. He was instantly roused from his daydreams when he recognized Kagome's voice. Leaping to his feet, he was through the small door so fast that it was left hanging clumsily on a single hinge. Upon entering her room, he immediately noticed the small staircase located in the corner. He deduced from the smell of fresh air that the stairs led up to the roof.

Bounding up the stairs, Ilyo recognized Inuyasha's scent; the full demon Inuyasha. Once on the roof he immediately saw Kagome cowering behind a large flower pot. Inuyasha was standing in front of it, smirking confidently. Spotting Ilyo, he smile grew ever broader.

"What are you going to do, tough guy? You're pretty far away. I doubt you can get to us before I kill her." Ilyo's felt his anger growing, and quickly realized he was about to lose control. His eyes quickly turned blood red and he lunged at Inuyasha.

Suddenly, Inuyasha was standing beside Kagome. Raising his claws, he brought them crashing down, right towards her neck.


	8. Out of Control

**Out of Control**

* * *

Blood spattered everywhere as Inuyasha claws connected with Kagome's flesh. Luckily, she had attempted to move out of the way, so the attack simply tore deeply into her shoulder, rather than the back of her neck. Unluckily for Inuyasha, the sight and scent of her blood snapped whatever little bit of control that Ilyo still retained.

Midway through his leap, Ilyo started changing. His fangs lengthened, growing at least an inch. His claws did as well, curving into vicious, scythe-like weapons. His body began to glow with a bright red light, similar to the colour his eyes had turned.

Hitting Inuyasha hard in the stomach, the momentum of his tackle carried both of them into the side of another large flower pot. Gasping for air, Inuyasha attempted to free himself from Ilyo's grasp. He found however, that escape was essentially impossible; Ilyo's grip was just too tight.

As Inuyasha struggled in his brother's iron-like hold, he suddenly noticed that the air around him was getting uncomfortably hot. As he continued to flail around uselessly, the temperature began to climb exponentially. Inuyasha screamed in pain as his flesh began to cook and his hair started burning. The heat radiating off of Ilyo actually caused Inuyasha's hair to catch on fire.

Bringing both hands down on the back of Ilyo's neck, Inuyasha managed to buy himself enough time to put a little bit of distance between himself and his brother. Beating out the fire in his hair, Inuyasha started thinking, trying to come up with a way to defeat his enraged enemy.

Before Inuyasha could invent a plan, Ilyo attacked. He leaped forward, his arms spread wide and his teeth exposed in a vicious snarl.

Seeing he had a clear shot at Ilyo's chest, Inuyasha took the opportunity to attack. He slashed the air with his claws, unleashing the wind scar at Ilyo, who continued on head first, plowing directly into the center of it. Inuyasha smirked to himself, confident that the head on blast had destroyed his opponent. His confident smirk was replaced by a look of disbelief a second later however, when Ilyo emerged from the energy, completely unscathed. His leap carried him into Inuyasha's smaller form once more, knocking the smaller demon off of his feet.

Reaching out, Ilyo hauled Inuyasha from the ground by his throat. Holding him up, he extended his other hand out to his side and became completely still. Inuyasha's gaze was drawn to the outstretched hand, and his fascination grew as light began to form in the center of Ilyo's massive palm.

His fascination quickly turned to horror however, as he realized what was happening. He began to struggle wildly in an attempt to free himself, but Ilyo's grip was strong and his efforts were in vain. He let himself go limp after several moments, resigned to his fate.

Suddenly, with a quick jerk of his thick wrist, Ilyo tossed Inuyasha up into the air.

The demon's last thoughts as he flew through the air were _I'm sorry I ever met that stupid human. She's been the cause of all of my problems for centuries. _Then, the lightning bolt that had been forming in Ilyo's hand hit him. As one hundred million volts of electricity coursed through his body, his mind went blank, and Inuyasha was no more.

When Kagome saw Inuyasha's body fall to the rooftop and remain unmoving, she instantly knew that he was dead. Her gaze switched to Ilyo, who stood staring at the smoking corpse, his face completely hidden from her. She got up and winced slightly as sharp pain lanced through he injured shoulder. She didn't want to look at the cut for fear of passing out due to the gruesomeness of the wound.

Due to the development of her spiritual powers over the years, Kagome's natural healing ability was much more advanced than the average human. She could feel her power flowing to her shoulder, working to seal the large gash. After several moments, her shoulder was completely healed. She worked it around a couple times and was delighted to find herself free of pain.

With that taken care of, she decided to go check on Ilyo. Making her way over to where he was standing, she moved in front of him so that she could see his face. She had to bite back a cry of horror at the sight. His eyes were had yet to fade from blood red back to gold and he kept snarling and growling quietly around the large fangs that were now in his mouth.

What was even worse however was the change she could sense in his aura. He wanted to kill. It felt almost the same as the aura given off by the full demon Inuyasha. Kagome did notice one major difference though: Inuyasha's aura had been evil and she could tell that he wanted to kill. With Ilyo, she could sense that not only did he want to kill, he also wanted to cause pain, hurt and torture. She knew that if he attacked her now, she would not die quick like Inuyasha had. It would be a slow, incredibly painful death that would take days, if not weeks. She shuddered at the thought.

As he stared at the human in front of him, Ilyo's first thought was to kill her. But then a scent hit his nostrils and he recognized the female in front of him. Just like that, he snapped back into control of himself. His aura began to shift back to normal and his fangs and claws slowly shrank back to their normal size. His eyes glowed red for another few seconds before they too returned to their regular golden colour. Looking down at Kagome, he realized that her eyes were filled with tears. He was just about to reach out for her when he detected a demon behind him.

Whirling around to stand protectively in front of Kagome, he let out a sigh of relief when he saw present day Sesshomaru staring at the body of Inuyasha. Sesshomaru looked up at Ilyo. "What happened?"

"He attacked Kagome so I had to put him down," Ilyo stated simply.

Sesshomaru nodded in understanding. Slowly he went over to Inuyasha's corpse and stared down at it silently. After a moment, he stooped down, grabbed hold of it, straightened up and slung the body over his shoulders. "I was coming to tell you that you two should get some rest. Dinner will be served in a couple of hours." Sesshomaru then walked down the staircase, carrying his brother's smoking corpse with him, leaving Kagome and Ilyo standing there alone.

Kagome was the first to speak, breaking the tense silence. "Ilyo, we need to talk. Things are getting weird."

Ilyo looked at her. She smiled back at him nervously. He put on a smile full of false confidence. "What are you talking about, Kagome? Things aren't getting weird. In case you haven't noticed, you're standing on the roof of a castle, beside a giant dog demon, and you are preparing to do battle with a god over some pieces of a jewel. Things aren't getting weird. They are just plain fucked up." This brought a genuine smile to Kagome's face, but only for a moment.

"Come on, Ilyo. You know what I'm talking about. First, Hojo tries to hug me, so you throw him through a window. Then, Inuyasha attacks me and you throw him through a door. Then, when he attacks me again, you fry him. What's really going on?" Kagome looked relieved to finally get that off of her chest.

Ilyo attempted to downplay his actions. "I am just protecting you. You are our guide. If you were to die, we would be helpless." It hurt Kagome to hear him say that, even though she was pretty sure he was completely full of shit.

"Is that all it really is? I feel something between us, even though I've known you less than forty-eight hours. I feel safe around you. Plus, you're not bad to look at, either." She smirked up at him playfully as she said this. Her grin fell however, at the sight of his face, which was scrunched up into a strange expression.

Ilyo was remembering back to what Sesshomaru had said in the hallway. With a sigh, he shook his head lightly and focused his gaze on Kagome's face. "We cannot be together. You know that. I would stay young long after you aged and died. Not to mention the fact that you are only eighteen years old, and I'm nearly one thousand." His arguments were meant to let her down gently, but tears once again filled her eyes. He quickly changed tact."I'll tell you what. After this conflict is over, we'll talk again and we can go from there. How does that sound?" He awaited her reply with bated breath.

After a moment's consideration, she nodded. He sighed in relief and turned to walk back downstairs.

"Ilyo!" At the sound of his name, he whirled around, just in time to catch Kagome as she leaped into his arms and kissed him, right on the lips. Then she slid out of his arms with a giggle and ran down the stairs. He watched her go with a bemused look on his face.

Ilyo stood on the roof for a half an hour, pondering his ultimatum. He had no doubt that after this conflict was over, she would remember what he said. But by then, it would be too late. What Ilyo had neglected to point out to Kagome was that even if they were successful in defeating Kuttsoh-turas, the jewel would be destroyed and he and his brothers would return to their era. Without the jewel, Kagome would be unable to access the Feudal Era. They would never see each other again. Ilyo remained on the roof until Sesshomaru came searching for him, to announce that dinner was ready.

Turning, Ilyo stared silently at his brother. Sesshomaru noticed this and quietly moved to stand beside him. "What is wrong, Ilyomaru?" When Ilyo remained silent, Sesshomaru deduced what the cause of Ilyo's sudden moodiness by Kagome's scent; it was all over the elder dog demon.

"Woman troubles, I presume." When Ilyo nodded, depression already setting in, Sesshomaru smirked a little. He was surprised, however, when Ilyo turned to him with anger in his eyes.

"Why, goddamn it? Why must everyone in this cursed family start caring about female mortals?" he yelled. "First, it was father, then Inuyasha. Even you, the mighty Sesshomaru, had feelings for a human girl. Now, I have inherited the curse."

Sesshomaru was shocked by how hard Ilyo was taking it. "Come on now, Ilyomaru; this is not a bad thing. You both have feelings for each other. Why not let them show through? She obviously has no problems being with you."

Sesshomaru tried to be logical, but Ilyo was having none of it. "Don't you understand? She will die and I will live for countless more years, unable to erase her from my mind. It would drive me insane!"

Sesshomaru stood there calmly and let Ilyo shout at him. It was never good when someone as powerful as Ilyo bottled things up. Once his brother had stopped his ranting, Sesshomaru spoke up again. "Be reasonable, Ilyomaru. Do you realize how selfish you sound? Think about her and how she feels." Ilyo was silent as he thought about that.

Sesshomaru turned to leave, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. "I gave her hope. I told her that we'd talk more if we survived the coming battle. She was overjoyed. But you know as well as I do what will happen if we win." Sesshomaru nodded. He realized that Ilyo had let Kagome down easy, giving her hope, even if it was a false hope.

Suddenly, an idea occurred to Sesshomaru. Quickly he excused himself. "I've got to go now. Dinner is ready if you want any. I trust you can find your own way down to the kitchen. Good bye."

Leaving Ilyo alone on the roof, Sesshomaru quickly made his way to his office on the second floor. Once inside, he closed the door and moved to his book shelf. He searched for a minute before he picked a book off the shelf and went and sat down at his desk. Kicking back his feet, he opened the book and began reading.

After nearly an hour of searching, he finally found the passage he was looking. Grinning widely, he exited his office and climbed the stairs until he stood in front of Kagome's room. Sesshomaru knocked on the door and when no one answered, he quietly swung it open. Kagome was passed out on the bed, obviously exhausted by her close call earlier in the day.

Walking over to her, Sesshomaru stood over her bed and raised both hands over her body. His eyes turned red and his body began to glow with a bluish-purple colour. He started chanting in a strange language and the glow expanded to encompass the sleeping girl. He chanted for at least ten minutes before falling silent and slumping slightly. He rested for several moments, before turning and exiting the room.

As he made his way back to his office, Sesshomaru muttered under his breath, "You'd better appreciate this, Ilyomaru."

Back in Kagome's room, she rolled over and sighed. Then her mouth opened, revealing sharply pointed fangs.


	9. Surprise

**Surprise**

* * *

Kagome awoke from her nap several hours later. Sitting up slowly, she took a deep breath and then froze. Hesitantly, she inhaled again and quickly noticed that something was different. After several more test, she realized with a jolt what was wrong; she could smell everything. Eyes wide, she reached up and touched her nose. The appendage remained unchanged she was relieved to discover.

After a few moments of slightly anxious theorizing, Kagome finally decided to just chalk it up to some strange magic or power that existed in Sesshomaru's castle.

Shrugging off her worry, she stumbled out of bed and quickly realized that she was still wearing her dirty clothes. Looking around, she spotted a small dresser. She approached it and pulled open the top drawer. It screeched loudly, causing her to cringe away and let out a low whimper of pain. She felt like she had a hangover; all her senses felt supercharged.

Once her ears stopped ringing, Kagome looked inside the drawer and found a pair of jeans and a black tank top. Shrugging, she picked up the clothes and went through a small side door into the private bathroom she had discovered before going to bed.

Quickly, she peeled off her dirty clothes and got into the shower. As she reached up to comb out her hair under the water, she nicked the side of her head with a fingernail. Letting out a hiss of pain, she looked at the offending nail and then did a double-take. Her once short, carefully filed fingernail was now long and pointed, like a claw. A quick inspection told her that the rest of her nails had gone through the same transformation.

Kagome stared at her hands in confusion for several moments as the water rained down on her. After considering her new claws and her strangely sensitive senses, she was struck by a sudden suspicion. Reaching up, she hesitantly felt along the tops of her ears; both were now topped by points. Eyes wide, she slowly brought her hand to her mouth and ran a finger over her teeth. She immediately determined that she had fangs as well.

Her suspicions confirmed, Kagome froze for a second before leaping out of the shower, screaming in horror. She threw open the door, ran through her room, and out into the hallway. She only took three or four steps before Ilyo appeared in front of her, a look of extreme worry on his face. She jumped into his arms and started sobbing uncontrollably. He held her for a second and calmly asked what was wrong. Her reply shocked him.

"I'm a demon, I'm a demon, I'm a demon!" Eyes wide, he pulled back slightly to get a better look at her. Immediately, he noticed how her ears had become pointed and two small fangs were poking out of her mouth. A second later, he also realized that she was naked. His eyes widened and he quickly took off his jacket and wrapped it around her.

Ilyo quickly came to the conclusion that she had indeed been altered. Her smell was the same as before, but now he could smell the demonic energy residing in her. And it was doing things to him. Her being separated from him by only a leather jacket didn't really help matters. She didn't seem to notice his distraction though; she was too busy crying. Then, present day Sesshomaru happened to pass by. He smiled to himself, but outwardly remained emotionless.

"What has happened to you, Kagome?" he asked innocently. She looked up at him tear-stained eyes.

"I'm a demon," she sobbed.

He forced a concerned look onto his face. "Cheer up, Kagome. Think of it like this; now your lifespan matches Ilyomaru's. That is a good thing, right?"

Kagome sobs instantly began to slow as she considered that. She thought about that for a moment and then looked up at Ilyo happily. He smiled down at her, then gave her a hand and hauled her to her feet.

"I believe that you should get dressed," Ilyo suggested quietly. She giggled and nodded. Ilyo turned and made his way back to his own room. Kagome watched his retreating back happily, and when she turned around, Sesshomaru had disappeared.

When Kagome went to re-enter her room, she could have sworn she heard Sesshomaru's voice. "Consider it a gift exchanged, Kagome; your happiness for my arm." She smiled and started getting dressed.

Meanwhile, Ilyo was pacing the floor in his room. _I should be happy_,he reasoned. He had known instantly that it had been Sesshomaru who had caused Kagome's transformation. He could smell his brother's scent coming from her room. _Now_, he thought,_ I could love her_. _See can stay with me forever_.

Unfortunately, now he couldn't help but think about the horrors she would now have to face. She would be different from her friends, she would feel bloodlust; she would kill. It was inevitable. Demons killed. He himself had killed humans before. He hadn't enjoyed it, but it had been done. _Oh well, _he thought, _there is nothing I can do now_. _I might as well make the best of the situation_.

At the same time, Inuyasha woke up from the large bed he had been sleeping in. He looked around and noticed his sword was lying on a small dresser across the room from his bed.

As he grew more awake, he began to remember where he was and how he had gotten there. He remembered returning to Kagome's house after they met up with her friends. He remembered seeing a long, black car pull up to Kagome's house. He remembered hearing the driver conversing with Kagome's mother. Then, the driver approached him and brought him to a castle. He could recognize the smell that permeated the air; Sesshomaru. Immediately, he had realized that it was the residence of the future version of Sesshomaru.

Dragging himself out of bed, he returned the Tetsusaiga to its sheath and crept out into the darkly lit hallway outside his room. Moving to the end of the hallway, he encountered a huge set of stairs. After a moment's hesitation, he decided to head up and explore a bit. Up he went, to the top floor.

Finding himself in a long hallway, Inuyasha began to sniff around. Immediately, he picked up the scent of Kagome mixed in with all the other smells. He stealthily followed the scent, which led him to a door that was partially open. He could here Kagome humming quietly on the. Suddenly, he noticed that there was something different about her scent.

Pushing open the door, Inuyasha walked in and found Kagome lying on her bed, with her eyes closed, humming happily to herself.

Inuyasha, without thinking, just called out her name, loudly. "Kagome!"

Her eyes flew open, and she looked at him in surprise. "Inuyasha, when did you get here?"

The half-demon looked at her strangely for a moment. He could tell something was different about her, but he couldn't put his finger on exactly what it was. So he answered her question. "I got here a few hours ago. Some guy came to your house and brought me back here with him. I assume this is Sesshomaru's castle?"

"Yeah," Kagome confirmed. She nodded once, which caused her hair to move slightly. The shift revealed her ears to Inuyasha for the first and he gasped; they were pointed. Eyes wide, he looked at her mouth and immediately noticed that she now had fangs.

He quickly came to the realization of what was different about her scent. "You're a demon," he gasped.

Kagome nodded, waiting to see how he would react. She expected disbelief, anger even, but that wasn't what happened.

Inuyasha's legs buckled and he fell to the floor, his head in his hands. Kagome's eyes widened as shock overwhelmed her. "What's wrong?" she asked, worried.

He didn't move look up as he provided her with an answer. "For decades, I've been attempting to become a full demon and in one night you succeed where I've always failed."

Kagome couldn't believe it. Here she was, a human who mysteriously transformed into a demon, and all Inuyasha could do was moan about how it should have been him.

"Listen here, mister," she said, frowning heavily, "it isn't all that great. I'm not significantly changed from how I was before. Sure, now I can smell everything, my hearing is better, and I'm a little bit stronger, but I don't feel all that different." She had been hoping to cheer him up, but instead, all he did was snort.

"That's because you haven't been tested yet," he said sadly. "The only way to truly measure the power of a demon is to place them in mortal combat. This forces all of their abilities to come to the front." Kagome was surprised into silence. Inuyasha returned to his moping.

Pondering for a minute, Kagome once again spoke up. "Is there any other way to cultivate these powers? I would really like to know what I could do." Inuyasha looked up at this.

"Well, I suppose I could help you." Kagome grinned. He got to his feet, and they both exited the room. Leading Inuyasha down the staircase, she quickly opened the main doors and they made their way outside. As she looked around for an empty place where they could train, Inuyasha was possessed by a sudden thought.

Looking around, he noticed a large tree. _Perfect_, he though. Leaping up into it, he broke a large branch off and turned toward Kagome.

"Kagome!" he called, before hurling it at her. She whirled around and immediately spotted the incoming missile. Shrieking in shock, she cringed and closed her eyes, throwing up her arms in a weak attempt to ward off the branch. To her immense surprise, the expected collision never occurred. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes, only to see the huge piece of wood laying on the ground, neatly sliced into two pieces.

"Why the hell did you do that?" she screamed at Inuyasha. Anger clouded her vision and before she could stop herself, she had launched herself through the air, landing up in the tree beside Inuyasha.

The half-demon looked directly into her eyes, which were tinged slightly red and shuddered slightly. He shifted away from her, trying to put some distance between himself and his enraged friend.

Seeing Inuyasha cringing away from her helped Kagome bring herself back under control. She was still angry however, and her face showed as much.

Inuyasha, seeing the rage clouding her features, quickly explained. "I was just trying to force you to respond with your powers. And it worked."

Kagome didn't understand. "What do you mean? What did I do?"

Inuyasha grinned at her. "You know that energy whip thing that Sesshomaru used to use before he got Toukijin? One of those came out of your hand."

Kagome's eyes widened and she looked at her hand, curiosity flooding through her. _I'll have to ask Sesshomaru about that one, _she thought. Then she grinned at Inuyasha, drew back her fist, and smashed him in the nose.

He grunted in surprise and pain as the blow caused him to fly out of the tree and land on the ground, quite far away from the base of the tree. Rubbing his sore nose, he got to his feet, only to hear Kagome's laughter. "Payback is a bitch," she called to him.

Realizing that he had just gotten made a fool of by a female, Inuyasha started to get angry. Then he thought about how hard she had hit him. _She's already got control over her strength_, he thought.

Inuyasha was about to suggest she start learning how to properly summon her whip, but before he could, a cold voice interrupted him. "Perhaps you should get something for your nose, little brother. It looks a little crooked." Sesshomaru was standing there; past Sesshomaru.

Inuyasha growled in response. "What do you want?" he snarled at his brother.

Sesshomaru, who had changed back into his Feudal Era clothing, merely glared at his brother."I came to offer my help in training the girl." Inuyasha and Kagome were dumbfounded by this announcement.

Kagome was the first to recover from the surprise, so she asked a question. "Why? What's the difference between Inuyasha training me and you training me? And why do you even care?"

Sesshomaru glared at her coldly. "There are many reasons why I choose to do this. And as for your other questions, the difference in being trained by me and being trained by Inuyasha is I am a full demon, and in case you haven't noticed, your powers are very similar to mine." She couldn't argue with that point; it was painfully obvious. "As for why I care…I don't. A difficult battle is coming however, and I would prefer to have the best possible allies. If I train you, you will be a strong ally."

As he said this, Kagome nodded her head in agreement. Inuyasha said this and opened his mouth to process, but Kagome cut him off. "He's right, Inuyasha. It would be more beneficial to have him train me. But don't worry, I'll come and find you later."

Inuyasha shut his mouth, but he still looked pissed off. He turned to Sesshomaru. "Make sure that you don't hurt her. If you do I'll—"

Sesshomaru cut him off there. "You'll what? Scream at me. Tell me off. Face it, half-breed, you are powerless against me." Inuyasha got red in the face, and looked like he was about to jump Sesshomaru, but the next sentence halted him. "Do not worry, little brother, I will not hurt her. She has a new protector now, and I would prefer to remain on good terms with him."

Inuyasha looked confused at this, but Sesshomaru turned and motioned for Kagome to follow him. Smiling apologetically, Kagome fell into step behind the demon Lord, leaving Inuyasha standing there, scratching his head.


	10. Training

**Training**

* * *

Kagome remained silently as Sesshomaru led her around the side of the castle. Her eyes widened when they finally came to the back and she just how massive the grounds were. Perfectly maintained lawns, a deep vibrant green, stretched on as far as the eye could see.

Without warning, Sesshomaru came to a stop and turned towards her. He stared at her silently for a moment, before suddenly drawing his sword and leaping at her.

Shocked, Kagome jumped sideways and managed to avoid his blade. She tried to back away from the demon Lord as he came at her with Tokijin raised high above his head, but he was very quick and she wasn't able to put any real distance between them.

While mentally preparing herself to be slashed by the deadly blade, Kagome attempted to avoid his precise strikes. Amazingly, she managed to dodge every one of his blows. Realizing that she was as fast as he was, Kagome started ginning. That grin faded however, with what happened next.

Getting tired of missing her every time, Sesshomaru decided to change strategies. Pulling back his arm, he swung Tokijin at Kagome in a massive arc. Once again, he missed her completely. This time however, instead of following through with the swing, he halted a foot from her face, and pulled back, smashing her in the side of the head with the hilt of his sword. She immediately fell to the ground, unmoving.

Sesshomaru went to stand over her. Reaching down, he grabbed a handful of her long hair and roughly jerked her to her feet, prompting a small cry of pain to pass through her lips. "Wake up," he commanded. "If that is all you can take, you won't even survive my training, much less real combat."

The emotionless voice was like cold water pouring on Kagome. Her eyes opened wide, flaring angrily. "Oh, I can take a lot more, you jerk." Twisting out of his grip, she faced him, standing in a defensive position.

Sesshomaru nodded. "Now when I attack, try to hit back."

Kagome nodded fiercely. This time, when he leaped at her, she was ready. Dropping to one knee, she watched as he sailed over her head and then raised her hand, claws first, and drove up with as much force as she could manage. She felt her claws pierced his stomach and grinned in triumph.

Gasping in pain, Sesshomaru landed heavily and fell to one knee. To Kagome's surprise however, he immediately got back to his feet and turned back towards her.

Looking at small holes in his gut, Sesshomaru nearly smiled. "It has been quite a while since a have been wounded," he admitted. He looked up at Kagome after a minute and nodded. "It seems that you have mastered your strength and speed. Now, we will work on your less noticeable powers."

Kagome nodded agreeably, still shocked that he could stand up, much less talk. She knew if it was her who had suffered those injuries, she wouldn't be standing around as though nothing had happened.

Sesshomaru stared at her for a minute. "I assume that you have poisonous claws. I do, and your power seems to be very similar to my own." Kagome shrugged. Sesshomaru pointed at her clawed hand. "Hold it out, straight in front of you." Kagome did as she was told. "Okay, now imagine the poison dripping from your claws, about to destroy your enemy. Picture this and it will happen."

Kagome closed her eyes and concentrated really hard. She couldn't tell if anything was happening, so she was surprised when Sesshomaru spoke. "Enough." She opened her eyes and looked down. The lawn in front of her was burnt and dead. She looked at her hand. It was still dripping slightly. Sesshomaru indicated the hand. "Now, try it with your eyes open, and this time, use the other hand."

Kagome tried again, and to her immense surprise, it worked. Poison began to drip freely from her other hand. She stopped, waited for a second, and then did it again, just to prove that she could.

Sesshomaru, though his face remained emotionless, nodded his approval. He was surprised that she was mastering the techniques so quickly. "Okay, now attempt to attack me. This time, I will defend myself. Use whatever abilities you can."

Kagome hesitated. Even though she didn't really like Sesshomaru, she didn't want to injure him too badly. But, he had invited her to attack, so she did. Leaping at him, she was surprised when he didn't move. He let her hit him, but he didn't fall. He didn't even flinch. She moved fast and kept aiming punches at him. That's when he moved. He dodged every single punch she threw. Kagome began getting pretty pissed off at him. He never stood still long enough for her to hit him. So when he finally paused for a second, she saw her opening and took it.

Thrusting forward with her claws, she injected her poison directly into his chest. Immensely pleased with herself, Kagome was about to back away from the injured Sesshomaru, when suddenly a vicious backhand sent her flying backwards, to fall on the ground in a crumpled heap. She got up slowly at the sound of his voice.

"Foolish girl. You seek to finish me with my own weapons. If I was vulnerable to poison, my own powers would have destroyed me a long time ago." His biting words embarrassed Kagome. She felt stupid for thinking that the demon Lord would be so easy to defeat. She looked at him when he spoke again. "I've already seen you use your whip. Try to summon it again."

Kagome nodded and focused her mind, attempting to summon the weapon. To her immense surprise and delight, it appeared almost instantly.

Sesshomaru once again nodded his approval. "I believe that I do not need to train you in the use of a whip. It is very simple." Kagome nodded, and sent the whip away. "Now, I believe that it is time to train you in the use of a proper weapon."

Kagome was about to tell him that she was already trained in the use of a bow, but he cut her off with a raised hand. "I do not count the bow. When I say a proper weapon, I mean for hand to hand combat. A bow and arrows are useless in that situation." Kagome indicated her agreement.

Turning suddenly, Sesshomaru gestured for her to follow him. She silently walked behind him as he led her through a back door, into the castle. Walking down a short hallway, he led her into a large room. Kagome gasped at the sight of it.

All around the room, on the walls and in cabinets, were countless weapons of different make and variety; swords, maces, axes, etc. Many of them glowed with ill-concealed power. And there, in the midst of them all, three swords stood out. Kagome recognized them immediately; the Tetsusaiga, the Tenseiga, and Tokijin. Looking at Sesshomaru's waist, she saw that the Tenseiga and Tokijin remained sheathed at his side. She quickly deduced that the swords in the room were the ones that belonged to the present day Sesshomaru.

Reaching out, she attempted to touch Tokijin, but was repelled by the powerful aura that surrounded it. She looked at Sesshomaru questioningly, but all he did was stare silently back at her.

When she refused to look away, he finally decided to answer her unspoken question. "You can't touch the sword because your demonic aura is not powerful enough. Even though you have become a full-blooded demon, you still retain the powers of a priestess. You are good, and it takes a strong, evil aura to be able to wield the sword. You shouldn't touch the other two either. The Tetsusaiga can't be touched by a demon, and the Tenseiga will repel all but its true owner."

Kagome listened to this silently, before asking her own question."Well what am I supposed to use then? I want a weapon with power."

Sesshomaru indicated that he understood what she wanted. Gesturing to one sword in particular, he motioned for her to pick it up.

Kagome looked at the sword. It was about as long as Tokijin, but it was vastly different in every other way. The blade was double-edged and one edge was tinged a red colour, while the other was tinged icy blue. At the base of the blade, where it met the hilt, were a few small markings. The hilt was simple in design, made of some metal that felt cold and hot at the same time. Kagome picked it up, surprised at the lightness of it and then promptly dropped it as it started to glow with a reddish-blue aura.

As soon as the sword left her hand, the glow dissipated. Sesshomaru noticed a sheath lying on the cabinet from which the sword had been taken. Stooping, he attempted to retrieve the sword, but as soon as his hand closed over it, he was filled with pain, like his hand was both freezing and burning at the same time. He quickly released the weapon and stepped back.

"Pick it up, girl. It appears to have chosen its new owner. Now, none but you may touch it." Kagome nervously reached down and closed her hand over the hilt. As soon as she did, the sword once again began to glow. This time, however, she didn't drop it. Instead, she picked up the sheath and quickly slid the sword inside it. The aura immediately disappeared.

As she belted the sword to her waist, Kagome looked up at Sesshomaru. "Do you know what this sword can do? I can sense that it is extremely powerful, but I can't tell for certain what exactly it can do."

Sesshomaru looked like he was deep in thought for a moment before responding to her question. "There is an old legend of two swords, called Draynal and Draynas, forged by the god who rules the elements of the earth. Judging by the markings on the hilt, I believe that this is Draynas. Apparently, the very essence of fire and ice were contained within both swords. The true owner could call upon the elements of fire and ice at will. But I was led to believe that both swords were either lost or destroyed thousands of years ago. I had heard that my father had searched for them centuries before my birth, but I never heard if he had acquired them or not. Perhaps Ilyomaru could better answer the question. I am certain of one thing, however; that sword is very powerful. The only weapon that could possibly defeat it would be its counterpart, Draynal."

Kagome stood in shock as she listened to Sesshomaru's tale. She glanced down at the sword which now hung at her side. _It chose me. If only I knew how to call on its powers properly, _she thought longingly.

Her musings were interrupted a moment later when Sesshomaru began speaking again. "Well, which do you wish to do? Continue training with me, or go to Ilyomaru and inquire as to the history of this sword."

Kagome was saved from having to answer, because at that moment, she sensed Ilyo's presence. Looking to the door, she smiled when he entered the room, ducking his head to fit in the doorway. At first, all he noticed was the fact that Kagome was in a weapons room.

"What are you two doing in here?" he inquired.

Kagome was about to answer, but Sesshomaru beat her to the punch. "I was training her to properly use her powers. We will need all the help we can get in the coming battle if this god is as powerful as you say he is. I brought her in here to choose a weapon, but instead, a weapon chose her."

Ilyomaru looked back at Kagome and, for the first time, noticed the sword belted to her waist. In her eagerness to show him, she quickly unsheathed the sword, once again initiating its aura. She looked up at Ilyo, expecting to see a surprised look on his face, but was shocked by what she saw.

Ilyo's face had gone white. "What's wrong, Ilyo?" Kagome asked in concern. He didn't answer; he just kept staring at the sword. At that moment, present day Sesshomaru arrived. He immediately noticed the look on Ilyo's face. Following his gaze, he noticed the sword in Kagome's hand. His jaw dropped in surprise.

"That sword responded to you?" he asked her quickly. But Kagome was saved from having to answer. Whirling around, Ilyo had wrapped his fist around present day Sesshomaru's throat and lifted him right off of the ground.

"Where did you get that sword?" he growled fiercely. Sesshomaru looked shocked.

"I took it off of the body of some demon that I found dead several days ago." At that, Ilyo dropped Sesshomaru and stepped back, his face even whiter than before.

"What's wrong?" Kagome asked him again, her concern even greater.

Ilyo looked at her silently for a minute before answering. "That sword used to belong to me. I still have its counterpart. A long time ago, the god who forged it approached me and asked if he could have back his swords. I agreed to return one of them. The only way that Sesshomaru could have touched the sword was if the true owner of the sword had died, and when I forfeited the sword to its creator, he became the true owner."

Ilyo paused, and in the silence, Kagome posed another question. "What does that mean?"

Ilyo looked at her silently before answering. "It means that someone with extreme power has arisen in this era; someone with strong enough to destroy a god."


	11. Former Friend

**Former Friend**

* * *

Once those words passed through Ilyo's lips, the room fell into a deathly silence.

Kagome was the first to speak, breaking the silence. "Couldn't it have been Kuttsoh-turas who killed him?" she offered hopefully.

Ilyo however, shook his head. "No. Sesshomaru said that he only found the body and sword several days ago. That would mean that Kuttsoh was already in this era, and if he was, I would be able to sense his power." Kagome nodded in understanding. It made sense that if a god came to this era, he would be easy to sense.

Now it was Ilyo's turn to ask a question, which he addressed to present day Sesshomaru. "What did the dead demon you found look like?" Sesshomaru thought back to the event before answering Ilyo.

"Well, he was tall and rather solid looking. He had dark brown hair, shot through with red, blue, and silver. I couldn't really tell what his face looked like. He had sustained a large slash across his forehead, and the blood had dripped down and completely covered his face. He was wearing green clothing and leather armour."

Ilyo nodded. He was pretty certain from that description the dead demon was indeed the elemental god, Shiranth.

Then Sesshomaru spoke up again. "Also, when I was searching him, I saw that something was sticking out of one of his pockets. When I looked closer, I found this. I recognized the crest on the front, but the words on the back were a little more personal." Digging in his own pocket, Sesshomaru removed a small piece of metal and handed it to Ilyo. Ilyo took one look at it, and his eyes widened.

Kagome noticed his reaction. "What is it? Do you recognize the symbol?"

Ilyo nodded wordlessly. Opening his palm, he showed everyone the symbol. All that it consisted of was a small, metallic square. Engraved on the square was the image of two swords crosses over a pair of leathery looking wings, contained within a ring of flames. Ilyo flipped the thing over. On the back, crudely scratched into the shiny metal were the words 'I'm coming to get you'. Underneath the words was a single letter: 'I'.

Ilyo looked at both Sesshomarus. "Do you both recognize the crest?" When both Sesshomarus nodded, Ilyo looked to Kagome, who had been waiting impatiently to find out what was so damned important about some stupid piece of metal.

Ilyo sighed and started to explain to her. "Since you are now a dog demon, I guess you should know how things work in our world. Basically, there are three ruling races; dogs, panthers, and dragons. The Lordship of the lands always falls to one of these three clans. Said Lordship is decided in a fierce battle to the death. After each leader has a son, the three children are raised as friends and are encouraged to like each other. Sometime after all three children turn a hundred years old, they are forced to fight each other until there is only one left. Then, when the current leader steps down as Lord of the Lands, the survivor takes his place. Now, when I was born, as the firstborn son, this was to be my fate. The Panthers had a son named Iristlen and the Dragons had a son named Icthalur. We were forced into friendship as tradition dictated, but something happened. Icthalur and I grew in power so quickly that when we were just playing around, we accidently killed Iristlen. That left just I and the Icthalur as potential heirs to the throne. That had never happened before and the Panthers were pretty pissed off. They sent an army, led by their second born, Pladictus, to destroy me and Icthalur. But they misjudged our strength and we utterly destroyed every single one of them. This created another problem. When it came time to fight for the leadership, we had become too close friends to kill each other, so we refused to fight. My father, who was Lord at the time, did not care but Icthalur's father would not settle for that."

Kagome heard all this and was about to say something, but then she realized that Ilyo's story was not finished.

"In order to placate the pissed off Dragon Lord, we agreed to stay away from each other for five hundred years, then we would do battle. The dragon agreed because he realized that my father would probably remain in power for a lot longer than that." He shook his head. "So we went our separate ways. I trained for centuries, because I knew that Icthalur would do the same. Finally, after five centuries had passed, I finally received a message naming a time and place for the battle to commence. It was about that time I started to notice the demons that had allied themselves with my father were very nervous about my quickly growing power. On the day that I was to battle Icthalur, those damned cowards finally made their move. They took me by surprise and sealed me in the tomb. I learned after awakening that Sesshomaru had assumed control after father died. I couldn't figure out why Icthalur hadn't taken over. Now, I think I finally figured it out."

Both Sesshomarus and Kagome leaned forward with interest to hear Ilyo's theory.

"Well, I believe that after Icthalur showed up and I was nowhere to be found, he returned to his father and told him that I had chickened out. His father would have most likely not believed him and probably said that we were just tricking everyone so that we could avoid fighting each other. Knowing his father, the old man probably tried to have him killed. With Icthalur out of the way, his next eldest child could assume control. Unfortunately for his father, Icthalur had always been a hell of a lot more powerful than the old man gave him credit for. He would have easily destroyed every dragon demon that his father sent after him. That would explain why dragon demons are so rare in Feudal Japan; they've been mostly wiped out by Icthalur. All that's left are just regular dragons. Dragons are a lot weaker than dragon demons. Anyways, if it all played out like that, Icthalur would have been wracked by guilt. He probably started blaming me for the whole situation, not knowing the whole truth. He must have sensed my presence after I was unsealed from the tomb and is now searching for me through time itself just to destroy me."

Ilyo finished his tale, leaving everyone staring at him in silence.

Kagome had a question for him. "Why did he kill the god then? I mean, what was the point?"

Ilyo laughed mirthlessly. "It was a message. He is coming for me and not even the gods can stand in his way. This is very bad. I am powerful enough to hold off either Kuttsoh-turas or Icthalur for at least some time, but I can't take them both on at once. That is why we must find Icthalur before Kuttsoh arrives. If I could turn Icthalur to our cause, he would be an invaluable ally. Unfortunately, he is keeping his aura muted. I can't even sense him at all, and I should be able to. He obviously does not want me to find him. When we fight, he wants it to be on his terms."

Kagome nodded in understanding and sympathy. It saddened her that two such good friends had been set against each other.

"Well, what are we gonna do to find him?" she finally asked, confident despite what she had just been told. Even though she was nervous about possibly having to fight such a powerful opponent, she was sure that they could defeat him if it came down to it.

Ilyo noticed the expression on her face and he frowned. Her thoughts were easy to discern. "You are wrong, Kagome. I'm the only one here who could even stand up to him. If I were be killed or incapacitated, he would kill you all without no hesitation and no difficulty. It is true that Sesshomaru is powerful, but he might as well be a child next to Icthalur. The three of you combined would be less than nothing to him. Remember, if my theory is correct, he destroyed hundreds of his family and friends, who were all very powerful demons and suffered no lasting disability."

At this announcement, Kagome's fear started to shine through, which made Ilyo feel bad. He put his arms around her and held her close. Their moment was disturbed by the sound of footsteps coming down the hallway, towards the room that everybody was in.

Turning, Ilyo watched as Inuyasha entered the room. Inuyasha quickly noticed how close Ilyo was standing to Kagome, but he didn't say anything. Instead, he turned to present day Sesshomaru and started talking. "You have a visitor. He asked specifically for Ilyomaru."

Sesshomaru nodded and was about to leave them to meet the visitor, but a large hand on his shoulder halted him. Sesshomaru turned to Ilyo, but Ilyo was looking at Inuyasha.

"What did he look like?"

Inuyasha remained silent a moment before answering. "Well, he was about Sesshomaru's height, with short, dark green hair. His eyes were kind of slanted and his pupils were black. He looks big, but when he spoke, his voice was kind of like a hiss. It was deep and low, but sounded like he was hissing. Also, his clothing was very strange. He was wearing the exact same clothes as you, Ilyomaru." As Inuyasha said this, Ilyo's face turned white once again.

"Did he give you a name?" Ilyo asked this even though he knew exactly who it was.

Inuyasha answered quickly. "He said that I should tell you that he was old friend. I've never seen him before in my life, but he was obviously some kind of reptilian demon. He has a forked tongue and a when I shook his hand, his skin was cold to the touch."

Once Inuyasha fell silent, Sesshomaru looked to Ilyo. The eldest dog demon looked lost in thought, and Sesshomaru was reluctant to distract him. It was necessary however."Should I go to him?" he inquired in a low voice.

Ilyo had just opened his mouth to respond when a cold voice answered his question for him. "There is no need. I've been in this castle enough times to know my way around quite well, even if it has been a very long time since I've visited." Ilyo turned to the door to see a familiar face staring back at him. "Hello, Ilyo. Long time no see."

Ilyo was struck with a multitude of emotions as he looked upon the face of his old friend and heard his voice for the first time in many centuries.

Kagome was confused, so she looked at Ilyo. She saw him standing there, battling with his inner emotion and put a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.

Ilyo felt the arm and was finally able to partially overcome his feelings. But he didn't know what to say, so he simply uttered the first thing that ran through his mind.

"Icthalur."


	12. Memories

**Memories**

* * *

"You don't look surprised to see me," Icthalur noted with a smirk on his face. "I assume that you got my message?" When Ilyo said nothing, the dragon demon grinned widely. "If it makes you feel any better, he put up quite a fight. That sword of yours really burns like hell." He pulled up his sleeve, showing a long slash on his right arm. "It's been a long time since I've been wounded. It was…strange, to say the least."

All through this, Ilyo had remained silent. Finally, he spoke up. "I'm sorry." Icthalur looked at him, but said nothing. He just gestured for Ilyo to continue. "I'm sorry you were forced to kill everyone and I'm sorry that you didn't become the lord." Icthalur watched silently and calmly, until Ilyo was finished. Then, his rage washed over the room like a tidal wave.

"You're sorry? You're sorry? I was forced to kill my family, you son of a bitch and all you can say is I'm sorry! Well that's not going to cut it asshole!" He looked about ready to launch himself at Ilyo, but was halted by his upraised hands.

"Please, I can explain." Icthalur looked doubtful, but he figured that he owed his former friend at least time to explain himself. He gestured for Ilyo to speak. "On the day that we were supposed to fight, I was attacked by my father's allies. Before I could fight back, they sealed me in a tomb. I was trapped in there for four hundred years. By the time I was released, I could no longer sense your presence. So, I took to learning about my remaining family. Then, we got sucked into this time."

Icthalur listened to this silently and then voiced his own question. "Why should I believe you?"

Ilyo looked deep in thought for a moment before replying confidently. "Why would I have chickened out of fighting you? I can take you easy." He grinned as he said this.

He was surprised when Icthalur grinned as well.

"You wish, mutt. I could whip you with both hands tied behind my back." The dragon demon quipped.

Everybody looked on in tense silence as they waited to see how the two powerful demons were going to proceed.

After several moment of silent observation, Icthalur suddenly walked over and embraced Ilyo. "It's good to see you again, my friend."

Ilyo smiled and returned the embrace. When the two finally broke apart, he noticed that everybody was looking at them funny. But what the hell did everybody else know. Ilyo hadn't seen Icthalur in nine hundred years, and Icthalur hadn't seen Ilyo in fourteen hundred years, due to Ilyo being sucked through the well, rather than living the five hundred years like Icthalur had.

Ilyo turned to his brothers and started introducing everybody. "This is Sesshomaru, the owner of the castle. That is also Sesshomaru. He is from the past. I'll explain later. This is Inuyasha."

Icthalur looked at him closely. "A half-demon?" he prompted.

"My father had a certain weakness for human women." Icthalur nodded his understanding. "And this is Kagome."

Icthalur looked closely at her as well, making her blush."There is something strange about that one. She smells weird" he stated.

Ilyo smirked at that. "Until quite recently, she was a human with spiritual powers. However, my brother took it upon himself to make her into a demon."

Icthalur indicated his understanding of the situation. Then he asked his own question. "How come I haven't sensed you at all for nine hundred years?"

Ilyo stood silent for a moment before answering his friend's question. "Well, I already told you that for four hundred years, I was sealed in a tomb. Then, about three years after I was released, we got sucked into a time-traveling well. That pulled us five hundred years into the future. I believe that is your nine hundred years right there."

Icthalur was looking at Ilyo incredulously. "That is quite a story. Is there anything else I should know about?" He asked the as a joke, so he was surprised when Ilyo began speaking again.

"Actually, we have a bit of a situation developing here," Ilyo explained. "You see, in the Feudal Era, five hundred years ago, the Shikon Jewel was shattered. As it became closer to becoming whole again, the god, Kuttsoh-turas, realized just how powerful someone could become with the completed jewel. So he has set out to destroy the jewel and anybody who has come into contact with the shards. The problem is that Kagome has seven shards. That means that once he gathers all the shards in the other era, he will come here. We need your help to fight him off."

Icthalur took the tale in stride. "Well, I've already killed one god; why not make it two?"

Ilyo grinned, but felt the need to caution his friend. "Kuttsoh-turas is a lot more powerful than the god you killed. Plus, he'll have a large chunk of the Shikon Jewel. I don't know if he'll use it, but if he does, his power will increase even more." Ilyo watched as his friend's face split into a grin once more.

"Good, it's been centuries since I've had a proper battle." Ilyo and Icthalur both started laughing at that. Ilyo knew what he meant; finding somebody who could put up a good fight was difficult when you were as powerful as the dog and dragon demon were.

Meanwhile, Kagome was taking the opportunity to compare the two friends. _They're a lot alike, _she quickly decided. Not only did they have the same clothing, and the same haircut, but their mannerisms were very similar as well.

Lost in her thoughts, Kagome started slightly when present day Sesshomaru suddenly spoke up.

"Well, as much as I hate to leave," he began, "I do have a business to run. I have to excuse myself. Icthalur, please feel free to make yourself comfortable." With that, he turned and left. The other Sesshomaru wasn't far behind him, although he didn't even say anything. He just turned and walked out of the room. This left Ilyo, Icthalur, and Kagome standing in the room.

Icthalur started paying closer attention to Kagome now that he was no longer focused on killing Ilyo. "You were human?" he asked her.

Kagome nodded.

"Well, am I to assume that Ilyo has finally gotten himself a girlfriend?" The dragon demon smirked as he asked that.

Ilyo said nothing and Kagome blushed, which was enough of an answer for Icthalur. He smiled widely at his old friend. "Good for you, mutt."

Ilyo growled at being called mutt. That was one nickname he had never liked, and Icthalur knew it.

"Well, I'm starving," Icthalur said suddenly. "How about we go get some food?" As soon as the suggestion was put out there, Kagome realized just how hungry she was.

She quickly spoke up. "I'm sure that Sesshomaru has some good food somewhere in this castle."

Icthalur waved that off however."Never mind that. I feel like going out. It's been a while since I've really been anywhere."

Kagome shrugged and Ilyo grinned. But then Kagome realized something. "We're going to need some money."

Icthalur grinned at her. "Please, have some faith in me. I've been around for a long time and I am the only living member of a rather rich and powerful family. I have quite a lot of money."

Kagome indicated her understanding. Icthalur then turned and walked out of the room. Since he had came down from the front door, he knew his way back, so Kagome and Ilyo followed him silently.

Once they made it to the front door, they went outside and gazed at the grounds surrounding the castle. It was quite beautiful. Suddenly, Icthalur cleared his throat, and then jumped straight into the air and hovered there, waiting for Ilyo and Kagome to join him. Ilyo quickly jumped up after his friend.

Kagome didn't know what to do. Ilyo realized what was wrong and landed back on the ground. Stooping down, he indicated that Kagome should get on his back. She quickly clambered aboard and Ilyo leaped back into the air. Icthalur looked at them with amusement in his eyes. Ilyo motioned for Icthalur to lead the way.

They flew for about half an hour before landing in front of a small pizza place. Icthalur threw open the door and the three entered the shop. Ilyo and Kagome went and sat down in a booth while Icthalur went to buy the food. They ate in silence once the pizza was ready then quickly left the shop. It was decided then, mostly by the two men, that they needed to have a drink. They decided to walk down the block to a small bar they had spotted during the flight to the pizza place. Kagome was reluctant to go as she was underage, but Icthalur said he could get her in, so she took his word for it.

As the threesome made their way down the street, they encountered a familiar person. Kagome recognized him instantly; Hojo. "What are you doing here, Hojo?" she asked him. He ignored her, his eyes focused unblinkingly on Ilyo. Suddenly he motioned behind himself and a bunch of big guys stepped out of a nearby alley. Kagome looked at Hojo in confusion.

"Leave now Kagome. I don't want you to get hurt, but he is gonna get it." Hojo indicated Ilyo. The guys, there were about ten of them, encircled the three of them. All ten of them were carrying big steel pipes and had very eager expressions on their faces. They were clearly looking forward to beating the hell out of Ilyo. Kagome looked at Hojo, shocked at what he was doing. "You both can leave." He gestured to Kagome and Icthalur. "The only one who is gonna get hurt is him." Once again, Ilyo was pointed at by Hojo.

Suddenly Icthalur burst out laughing. "Come on, Ilyo. What did you do to offend this child?"

Ilyo shook his head. "This loser has some kind of obsession with Kagome. Earlier, he was giving her some unwanted attention, so I threw him through a restaurant window, head first."

Icthalur laughed even harder at that, completely ignoring the pissed off Hojo. "So, what do you say, Ilyo? Should we teach these ignorant humans how to fight?"

Ilyo, however, shook his head. "No," he said, "leave them to me." Icthalur nodded and wrapped his arm around Kagome, pulling her back, out of the circle of people.

Hojo smiled when he realized that Ilyo was going to try to fight back. "Good. Now, get him!" The ten guys came forward as a group, swinging their pipes wildly. One caught Ilyo in the shoulder; the pipe ended up bent at a ninety degree angle and Ilyo didn't even flinch. The guys all froze, shocked by the sight, which gave Ilyo an opening. He struck out with a punch that knocked one guy flying. Turning, Ilyo struck another guy hard in the ribs. The guy let out a sound like a balloon deflating and collapsed. Icthalur laughed as Ilyo hit another guy in the ribs. He had heard a sharp crack and instinctively knew that the man's ribs had been broken by the blow.

Another guy decided to rush Ilyo, swinging his pipe, but Ilyo turned and caught the pipe, yanking it out of the man's hands. With the pipe, he quickly dealt blows to four of the remaining seven men, dropping them all like stones. Then, he turned to face the three remaining thugs.

Hojo looked scared. He had started out confident, but as the fight progressed, he quickly grew scared. He made a quick decision and attempted to run away. He had to run past Kagome and Icthalur to escape, however, and as he ran, Icthalur wrapped a clawed hand around the back of his jacket and hurled him to the ground.

"Where do you think you're going, human? Ilyo isn't finished with you yet." By now, Ilyo had utterly destroyed the remaining guys. Whirling, he turned to Hojo. Although Icthalur could tell that he was amused, Ilyo projected a look of rage to scare the human.

Reaching down, Ilyo yanked Hojo from the ground by his throat. Looking the terrified human straight in the eye, he growled, "What the hell were you thinking? Did you honestly believe your pathetic friends could do anything to me?" Hojo squirmed uncomfortably, attempting to free himself from Ilyo's grip.

Icthalur was suddenly at Ilyo's side. "Finish it, Ilyo. Teach the human what it means to mess with a demon Lord. Finish it." Ilyo continued to stare at Hojo before shrugging. With a quick jerk of his wrist, he snapped the boy's neck like a twig. Throwing the carcass to the ground, he turned to look at his two companions. Kagome stared at the crumpled body of Hojo with a slight hint of sadness in her eyes, but refrained from saying anything.

Icthalur, on the other hand, laughed loudly and patted Ilyo on the back. "Good job, Ilyo. It had to be done. People have to learn that they can't fuck with us. Humans may own this world now, but we will outlast them all. In the future, the world will be ours once again, and the humans will need to know that we won't take their shit."

Ilyo listened to his friend's speech quietly. He knew that Icthalur was right; one day, the world would belong to the demons again. But he still felt a little uncomfortable with the way he had ended the human's life. _Oh well, _he thought, _I guess the little bastard had it coming._ With that thought, Ilyo turned and made his way down the street, closely followed by Icthalur and Kagome.

They got to the door of the bar, where they were met by a large man, who halted them before they could enter. He looked closely at Kagome, before moving aside, letting them in. The three immediately sat at the bar and Icthalur ordered them a round of beer.

Kagome was reluctant to drink the alcohol it but Ilyo was quick to reassure her. "It's okay Kagome. Now that you're a demon, it will take a lot to get you drunk." Kagome nodded. She was still slightly apprehensive, but since she trusted Ilyo, she decided it would be safe to drink at least a little.

Meanwhile, Icthalur had already downed two beers and was halfway through his third. Ilyo and Kagome watched as the dragon demon continued to drink until the counter in front of him was littered with empty bottles.

Turning to Ilyo, Icthalur smiled. "Well, you've had your fun, and now it's my turn." The dragon demon rose to his feet, walked down the bar to where a group of large, rough-looking men were sitting and drinking. Reaching out, he grabbed a beer from the hand of the largest guy there and quickly chugged it down.

"What the hell!" The man yelled at Icthalur. He stood up, as did his friends, and the large group quickly encircled Icthalur, evil intentions gleaming in their eyes.

Icthalur just grinned and beckoned them forward. "Bring it on."


	13. Fears

**Fears**

* * *

Ilyo groaned with annoyance at the sight of his friend trying to 'have fun'. It was typical of the dragon demon to wreak havoc and leave a trail of bodies wherever he went, but Ilyo had hoped that his friend would have at least tried to be civil while Kagome was with them.

Icthalur stood his ground as the men advanced on him, even though all of them were clearly itching to cause him some pain. Then, one of the guys threw a punch, and Icthalur started to laugh.

Ducking under the blow, he came up and caught the guy with a vicious uppercut, sending him flying through the air. He came crashing down a second later, right onto a pool table. Without waiting, Icthalur dove at two other guys who were standing close together. Although they were big guys, both well over six feet and at least two hundred fifty pounds, Icthalur was larger. When he hit them, the force of the collision drove the men backwards into the bar. They hit the bar so hard they actually broke through it, sending small pieces of wood flying up into the air. The two men hit the ground on the other side hard, immediately rendering them unconscious.

Casually rising to his feet, Icthalur brushed some wood splinters off of his jacket and turned towards the three remaining men. One of them was the one whose beer he had drank. The other two guys rushed Icthalur, attempting to overwhelm him, but he was ready for that. Ducking at just the right moment, he lowered his shoulders and launched himself forward. He planted his shoulders firmly into the stomachs of both men before straightening up with both of his foes resting on his shoulders. Then he began to spin in circle, taunting the men loudly as he went.

"What the hell is he doing?" Kagome whispered to Ilyo.

Ilyo smirked. "He's showboating for the crowd." He gestured towards the other patrons, who were cheering wildly and laughing. Then, he turned his attention back to his friend.

Once Icthalur felt that he had showed off enough, he simply fell forward, driving both bodies into the ground with incredible velocity. It was immediately evident that neither man would be in any condition to re-enter the fight after that.

Getting back to his feet, Icthalur dusted off his coat and went to sit back down with Ilyo and Kagome. He was halted before he went very far however, when a barstool suddenly came into contact with the side of his head. He turned to glare at the man who had hit him. It was the same guy whose beer he had drank.

The man shrank back from Icthalur's intense stare as the dragon demon slowly shrugged out of his coat. Turning, he handed it to Ilyo. "Watch my coat. I don't want to get it any dirtier than it already is." Ilyo nodded as Icthalur turned back to his foe.

The man gulped nervously. Now that Icthalur had removed his jacket, the immense muscles in his arms were extremely visible. Kagome noticed a small tattoo on his arm, but didn't say anything.

Grinning, Icthalur leapt at his opponent, tackling him to the ground. Getting quickly to his feet, he dealt a powerful kick to the man's ribs. Then, he kicked him again and again, and he started yelling.

"A bar stool? Are you fucking insane? Using a weapon in a bar fight is not cool! The last guy who did that to me is dead! I killed him with my bare hands!" As he screamed this, his eyes started turning red. Ilyo figured that he better interfere before his friend killed the poor guy.

"Enough. You've had your fun; now stop before you kill him." Ilyo's calm voice brought reasoning back to Icthalur. He stopped kicking the man's ribs, but when he heard the guy groan in pain, he turned and delivered a final kick to his head, effectively knocking the poor bastard out cold. Ilyo chuckled at his friend's enthusiasm.

Icthalur retrieved his coat from Ilyo, and quickly slipped it back on. Getting up, Icthalur tossed some money on the counter and all three friends left the bar before somebody could call the cops.

When they got outside, Kagome thought about Ilyo and Icthalur as they made their way down the street. She had just seen them destroy almost twenty rather large men without even breaking a sweat. Even though all of the men had seemed ready to kill both of them, Ilyo and Icthalur had simply grinned. Kagome quickly came to a realization as they walked along; she was out with two remorseless killers.

She had watched as Ilyo killed Hojo with only the slightest bit of encouragement from Icthalur. Then he had thrown the dead body onto the ground and walked away like it was nothing. Then she thought about Icthalur. He had killed a god, just to send a message, and then, in the bar fight, she was sure that he would have killed that guy if Ilyo hadn't interfered. Thinking about all that made her start to get a little nervous.

Suddenly, Icthalur halted. The other two stopped as well. Icthalur looked at Ilyo and smirked. "You're little girlfriend is getting scared." Kagome gasped.

Ilyo turned towards her, concern in his eyes. "What's wrong?" He turned back to Icthalur a second later when the dragon demon started laughing. "What's so funny?"

Icthalur stopped laughing long enough to reply. "She is afraid of us. She thinks that we are remorseless killers." Kagome's eyes widened.

Ilyo saw the look on her face and quickly explained. "He can read minds people's minds. It is a power that only the most powerful dragon demons have." Kagome gulped and was about to say something, but Ilyo interrupted her. "There is no need to be afraid of us. The only reason I killed Hojo is because if I had left him alive, he would have only tried something else. Some people are just too stubborn and stupid to admit when they've been defeated."

Kagome accepted his explanation, but she wasn't done. She was about to ask another question, but Icthalur answered her question before it left her lips. "There are a lot of gods out there. I figured, what's one less. And the bar fight, that was just fun."

Kagome shuddered at the callous way he just explained away the slaying of a god and the senseless beating of a bunch of guys. She couldn't help but admit to herself however, there probably wasn't a safer being in the world than her at that moment. That thought was actually pretty comforting.

Regardless of her slight nervousness from their lack of guilt, she had found herself starting to like Icthalur. He was a lot like Ilyo in many ways, but very different in others. He was obviously quicker to anger and more reckless. He seemed to enjoy violence much more than the dog demon did as well.

She went over their fighting tactics in her mind next. Although both had been impressive, Kagome thought that Ilyo was the better fighter. Her view might have been slightly biased due to her emotions of course but in her mind, the way Ilyo had masterfully dealt with Hojo's goons put him slightly ahead in the combat department.

That being said, she was proud of both of them. Even though they had ruthlessly destroyed their opponents, they had refrained from using any powers on them, relying solely on brute strength. She knew without a doubt that if it had been Inuyasha or Sesshomaru, all of the guys would now be dead, torn apart by claw or sword.

Suddenly, she realized that both friends were waiting for her to say something. She looked at them and smiled. "It's okay. I'm over it now." Nodding, Icthalur turned and started walking again. Ilyo and Kagome quickly trailed after him.

As they walked along, they decided to head home on foot, rather than by air. After all, it was a warm, clear night. A huge full moon hung low in the sky, providing a lot of natural light.

As they slowly strode down the street, Kagome started shivering a bit in the slightly cold air. Ilyo noticed this and quickly took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. She smiled in gratitude and pulled it tightly around herself. Then she noticed the small tattoo on his arm. It was the same as the one on Icthalur's arm.

"What's that?" Ilyo looked at the small drawing on his arm. He smiled when he looked down at it. All it consisted of was a black line and a red line, crossed to form an x. The x was contained within a black circle.

"It is a marking that is given to all three of the prospective Lords when they are born. The circle represents the one who has the tattoo and each line represents one of the others potential rulers. When one of them dies, the line that corresponds with that particular demon turns from back to red. Since the panther, Iristlen, has already died, one of the lines is red." Kagome indicated her understanding, and the three began to walk again.

After about an hour and a half of walking, the threesome finally arrived back at Sesshomaru's castle. As they reached the front door, the coppery stench of blood suddenly wafted out to them. Kagome stopped. "Hey, that smells like Inuyasha's blood." Ilyo merely nodded and strode quickly into the castle, Icthalur right behind him. They were greeted by a familiar sight.

An extremely bloody Inuyasha was leaning on the transformed Tetsusaiga, breathing heavily, while glaring intensely at the past Sesshomaru. The demon Lord was holding Tokijin in his only hand, his face expressionless.

Kagome noticed present day Sesshomaru watching the two intently. She approached him with a question. "What's wrong with those two now."

Sesshomaru looked at her before answering. "My past self took it upon himself to enlighten Inuyasha with the details of his future self. As soon as Inuyasha heard the part about how he had killed you, he accused my past self of trying to turn you guys against each other. Then, he attacked him. Unfortunately for Inuyasha, he is too dense to realize that he is no match for me, whether from this era or another."

Kagome understood perfectly. Regardless of how many times Inuyasha had got his ass kicked by Sesshomaru in the past, he always tried to defeat him the next time they crossed paths. Some people would have called that bravery, but Kagome called it stupidity.

Inuyasha finally noticed the new arrivals. Aiming one last poisonous glance at his brother, he sheathed the Tetsusaiga and approached Kagome. "Kagome, this bastard was trying to spread lies. He said that my future self killed you in the past. That's ridiculous, I..." He was halted by the look of sadness on Kagome's face.

"It's true, Inuyasha," Kagome revealed. "We've already met your future self. It was obvious from his actions here that he had killed me in the past."

Inuyasha growled loudly at this. "Where is the bastard? Let me at him! I'll rip his head off!"

At that, Ilyo smirked. Kagome however, was the one who replied to Inuyasha's demand. "Well, there's no need for that. Ilyo here has already taken care of him."

Inuyasha looked surprised, but he was not the first one to speak. Icthalur laughed. "You killed your brother? What did he do?" Then, Icthalur paused. "Ah, never mind. I see exactly what he did. Threatened your little girlfriend, did he? How did you kill him?" Icthalur seemed genuinely interested in how Ilyo had disposed of Inuyasha.

However, Ilyo looked reluctant to tell him. "Well, I hit him with a lightning bolt," he finally admitted.

Icthalur gasped. "Really? I haven't seen you resort to using that much power since that time the Panther army attacked us. Did the runt put up that much of a fight?"

Ilyo looked even more uncomfortable answering that question. "No, he didn't put up much of a fight. But I lost control."

When those words left Ilyo's mouth, Icthalur eyes widened."You lost control? In all the years we were so close, you never lost control once." Icthalur shook his head and then turned to Kagome. "He must really like you, Kagome."

Kagome blushed and giggled nervously.

Ilyo looked embarrassed about admitting that he had lost control of himself. "I'm tired. I'm going to bed." Turning, Ilyo walked off, going to his room, leaving Kagome, Icthalur, both Sesshomaru's, and Inuyasha and standing around. Icthalur was the next to go. He stalked off in the opposite direction of Ilyo; he obviously knew where he was going. Then, both Sesshomarus excused themselves, leaving just Kagome and Inuyasha standing there, alone.

Inuyasha turned to her. "I'm glad that you have found someone to love. I'm over my feelings for you." Kagome smiled at him, but stiffened with shock when he embraced her. However, all he did was hug her gently for a moment before turned walking away.

Kagome watched as he climbed up the main staircase, glad that her friend had seemed to accept that she was with Ilyo now. After several minutes, she finally decided to attempt to navigate her way back to her room.

Luckily for Kagome, her sense of smell allowed her to quickly find her room and it wasn't long before she was curled up in bed. Before she fell asleep, she took a moment to ponder the meaning of the embrace Inuyasha had given her. With her enhanced hearing, she could hear her friend pacing back and forth across the roof. She quickly decided that he must have gone up there to clear his head or something like that.

Inuyasha had indeed gone to the roof, though clearing his head was not the reason why. Instead, he was looking at his closed hand, debating whether or not to use the objects enclosed in it. He opened his clawed fist, revealing the seven jewel shards he had lifted from Kagome's pocket when he had hugged her.


	14. Decisions

**Decisions**

* * *

As Inuyasha stood silently on the roof, questioning what he should do with the jewel shard, one other person was awake. Icthalur was lying on a couch, his fingers laced behind his head, wondering about the last nine hundred years of his life.

He thought back to the day when he and Ilyo were supposed to meet in combat to decide the next Lord of the Lands. He remembered returning to his home, and being forced to annihilate his family and friends. He remembered training for years, building up to the day when he would once again meet up with Ilyo and finally get the vengeance he so craved. But when he got the chance, he had let Ilyo explain himself, and he had listened to the explanation and he had believed. Now, he had spent time with his former best friend, and he was already starting to fall back into the life he had lived before, him and Ilyo against everyone.

His thoughts now turned to the girl, Kagome. Ilyo clearly had strong feelings for her. Icthalur had never seen him act that way before. He had even lost control of himself in his attempt to defend her. It was strange very strange and out of character for the large dog demon. Icthalur sighed. He knew now that he had committed himself to helping them in their fight against Kuttsoh-turas just by being back with his friend. He had been alone for so long, and if he deserted Ilyo now, he would never forgive himself.

Just as Icthalur was about to roll over and attempt to get some sleep, he felt a strange power suddenly flare up directly above. The level of power was so ridiculously strong that he immediately shot up off the couch. Closing his eyes, the dragon demon inhaled deeply through his nose. He could vaguely smell Ilyo's little brother, Inuyasha coming from the same direction as the new energy. Getting to his feet, he went looking in search of Ilyo. He could sense his friend somewhere on the floor above him.

Climbing the stairs, he made his way up to the fourth floor and down a long hallway. He turned the corner at the end and found himself in another hallway. He could smell Ilyo scent coming from the room right at the very end of the hallway. He walked over to it quietly, and slowly opened the door. Ilyo was not inside however, which confused Icthalur. He could clearly sense that his friend was near. Then, he noticed the small door in the wall, which was slight ajar.

Icthalur slowly approached the door and went through it. He realized instantly where it led. Directly in front of him was Kagome, sleeping soundly on her bed. Icthalur looked around and noticed the stairs that led up to the roof. Ilyo was sitting on the bottom stair. Icthalur looked closer and realized that the dog demon was fast asleep as well.

Suddenly, Icthalur felt the strange power surge once again. Rushing forward, he leaned down and shook Ilyo slightly. Ilyo's eyes immediately flashed open. "What's wrong?" he asked urgently. Icthalur just pointed upwards, toward the roof.

Ilyo paused, and immediately sensed the immense power radiating from the roof. He also detected the scent of Inuyasha. "Stupid half-breed," he growled. Turning, Ilyo charged up the stairs, with Icthalur hot on his heels. When the duo reached the roof, they were greeted by the sight of Inuyasha, engulfed by an eerie pinkish-white glow. The seven jewel shards were easily visible in his hand.

Ilyo's blood ran cold and he felt horror course through him when he saw what his brother was doing."No, you idiot!" he cried. "You're going to draw Kuttsoh-turas to us." Rushing forward, he attempted to wrench the shards from Inuyasha's hands, but to no avail. Inuyasha drew back his other hand and punched Ilyo in the face. Although it wasn't really that hard, it was enough to make Ilyo step back. In that time, Inuyasha seemed to gain some sort of control over the shards.

Laughing maniacally, the half-demon jumped back from his brother. "You're too late, Ilyomaru. I have already harnessed the power of the jewel shards."

Ilyo merely smirked at him. "It makes no difference, half-breed. Your future self had the entire jewel, and I destroyed him easily."

Inuyasha shrugged casually. "That's true. But this time around, something is different. This time, I've already accomplished my goal. This time, I'm not going to be stupid and stick around long enough to be killed. I have alerted Kuttsoh-turas as to the whereabouts of you guys. Very soon he will arrive and destroy you." With that announcement, Inuyasha turned and leaped off the roof, swiftly making his exit from the castle's ground.

Ilyo watched him run off with a look of hatred in his eyes. "Fucking asshole!" he cursed.

"Should we go after him?" Icthalur quietly inquired.

"No. Thanks to Inuyasha's little display, Kuttsoh-turas has undoubtedly sensed the jewel shards by now. He knows exactly where we are and he could appear at any time, without any warning."

Icthalur nodded his understanding, but then he thought of something. "Won't he go after Inuyasha then? I mean, we no longer possess the shards."

Ilyo shook his head however. "No. Now that Inuyasha has gained control over the shards, he will be able to control how much of an aura they emit. He'll be able to hide himself from Kuttsoh-turas, at least for a little while." He sighed. "No, the god will come here. He will think that we are trying to hide the shards from him. He would just laugh at us if we told him that they were stolen by a half-demon." Ilyo shook his head at the stupidity of his brother. "We'll wait for Kuttsoh to come, and we'll do what we can to defeat him and we'll deal with Inuyasha later." Turning, Ilyo turned and made his way back downstairs. Icthalur followed him.

When Ilyo reached the bottom of the stairs, he immediately knew that Kagome was awake. He could smell her tears. From this, he quickly deduced that she had heard what had been said on the roof. Her tears were expected; she had been good friends with Inuyasha, after all.

"Kagome?" Ilyo walked over to her quietly, forgetting about the presence of Icthalur behind him. At the sound of Ilyo's voice, Kagome sat up in bed, attempting to hide her tears.

"Yes?" She tried to answer him normally, but her voice caught in her throat and she began to sob.

Ilyo was nervous, unsure of how to deal with crying girl in front of him. Sighing, he decided on a direct approach and sat down on the bed, beside her. "Inuyasha is not worthy of your tears. The stupid half-breed has alerted Kuttsoh-turas of our presence. He wants us destroyed. He cares nothing for his own family and friends."

Kagome nodded her understanding. "I know, but still. We have been friends for so long. I don't know how he could have done this."

She started to sob again and Ilyo responded bluntly. "It was power. He has always craved power, whether it came from his sword or the jewel shards. It was always about power for him. And when he heard the story of how his future self had gotten power, he was scared. He is not evil, just power-hungry. He didn't want to kill you. This way, he gets power, and Kuttsoh-turas does the killing for him. But he still remains stupid. He must realize that if Kuttsoh kills us, he will come after him." Ilyo lapsed into silence, pondering Inuyasha's motives. Suddenly, he felt Kagome wrap her arms around him.

"You're right," she said. "I might never fully understand why Inuyasha has done this, but you're right."

Ilyo turned his head to look at her. Even though it was very dark, it being night, he could clearly see her face. She was still sniffling slightly, but she was no longer fighting back full blown tears. _She truly is quite pretty_, he decided.

Meanwhile, Kagome was looking straight up at him. _He looks quite handsome_, she thought. She shifted her body so that she was leaning across him, looking directly up at him. Their eyes met, and they both knew what was coming next.

Their lips met in a soft kiss that quickly turned urgent. They stayed locked in this position for a minute, an hour, a day. Well, at least thirty seconds. They were interrupted from their kiss however, by the sound of a throat being cleared. Ilyo broke the kiss and looked behind him, suddenly remembering that Icthalur had been standing there.

"Well, I believe that we should now go and wake both Sesshomaru's. We have to prepare for the arrival of Kuttsoh-turas." Icthalur was very serious as he said this, but then his face split into a wide grin. "That is if you two are finished." Ilyo growled at him, only causing him to start laughing.

"Come on, let's go, lover-boy. We don't know when he'll arrive." Ilyo was reluctant to move, but he couldn't question the wisdom in his friend's words. When he looked down at Kagome, she saw the look in his eyes, and quickly got off of him. Blushing a bit at due to her intimate moment being witnessed by Icthalur, she stood up as Ilyo did and followed him and the dragon demon from the room. The two friends appeared to be walking silently, but they were actually conversing with each other by thought.

_Nice work, Ilyo. Good timing too. Get even closer to her just before a battle that could kill one or both of you_, Icthalur thought with a smirk on his face.

Ilyo appeared emotionless, but inside, he seethed at being lectured by his friend._ Well, I had to do something. She is very attractive, and she obviously likes me. I feel an overwhelming need to give her what she wants, and she wants me._

Icthalur grinned at his friend's rather blunt statement. _It's your choice, but in my opinion, you should have waited until after we defeat Kuttsoh-turas to return any sign of love. Now, if you die, she will probably go insane from the grief. _

Ilyo was about to give Icthalur a punch to the head, but refrained when he saw the truth behind his friend's words. It was too late to take back his actions now however.

At that moment, they arrived at the door to Sesshomaru's private room. Ilyo knocked urgently on the door and a voice said, "Enter." Ilyo opened the door and the three entered the room. It was not what they had expected at all.

Though the rest of the castle was cluttered with beautiful artwork and treasures, this room was utterly bare. There was a small dresser in one corner, a simple bed pushed up against the far wall, a television on a small table, and nothing else. Sesshomaru was sitting on his bed, watching a news program on the television. He turned as they entered his room, smiling at the surprised looks on their faces.

"I've found that I sleep better with fewer comforts. I believe that it serves as a reminder of past times when I slept on the ground while traveling." Sesshomaru's eyes got a faraway look in them as he remembered his glorious past. Then, his attention returned to the present. "I presume that you are here to tell me about the energy I sensed earlier?"

Ilyo nodded. "Yes; it was Inuyasha. He stole the shards of the Shikon Jewel from Kagome and is now using them to boost his own power. He has control over them now, but before he did, the power that they were emitting was immense. I have no doubt that Kuttsoh-turas has sensed that power, and he could arrive at any time. We need to prepare." Sesshomaru nodded his understanding, but was interrupted before he could speak.

The other Sesshomaru stood at the door and his announcement shocked everyone. "There is no time to prepare. The god has arrived and he is crying for our blood. He awaits us on the front lawn. He has given us twenty minutes to come out to meet him, or he is coming in to get us."


	15. Death

**Death**

* * *

Kagome's eyes widened and horror flooded through her when Sesshomaru's cold voice uttered that statement. She turned to look at how Ilyo was taking the announcement, but he was already moving.

"It is time," he stated solemnly. "Grab your weapons and meet me in the main hallway." With that statement, he strode off, closely followed by Icthalur and Kagome.

Past Sesshomaru glanced at his future self. "Will you be joining us in the battle?" He looked at his future self as if he was a weakling.

Present day Sesshomaru growled in response. "Of course I will. Do you take me for some kind o coward?" Past Sesshomaru smirked at that before turning and following Ilyo, Icthalur, and Kagome. Present day Sesshomaru glared after him for a moment and then he too left, making his way down to his armory, the room where Kagome had found her sword.

Meanwhile, Ilyo, Icthalur, and Kagome had arrived in the main hallway. Past Sesshomaru showed up several seconds later. He had his hand on Tokijin, and was wearing a peculiar smirk on his face. Present day Sesshomaru arrived mere moments after his counterpart did. He had changed clothing and was no clad in his familiar white attire. Strapped to his side were Tokijin and Tenseiga. The only difference between him and past Sesshomaru was that one of them had both arms and the other didn't.

Ilyo eyes his companions appraisingly for a moment; they made for quite a group. He turned to Icthalur, who grinned and spoke a single word in a strange language. He was instantly holding a sword. It was a beautiful blade, pure silver in colour and quite long, but unadorned by any gems or jewels. Kagome could sense a hidden power within the blade.

Ilyo nodded his approval and smiled at the sight of his friend's signature weapon. Then he spoke a word in a different language, and his own weapon was instantly summoned to his hands. It was the exact twin of Kagome's, with the same red and blue colouring along its razor sharp edges. He flexed his fingers on the hilt and felt his blood start to sing in the same manner it did before every battle he had ever fought. Looking at his small group, Ilyo grinned, exposing his fangs. Then he laughed coldly. "Let's go!" Turning, he threw open the door and led everyone outside.

Out on the lawn, Kuttsoh-turas was waiting for them. Kagome looked at him, judging his appearance. He stood nearly as tall as Icthalur and Sesshomaru, but he looked considerable slimmer than either of them. His perfectly straight hair was fire red and it reached down to his shoulders. It was his eyes that made her shiver however; they were completely black. There was nothing else there, just flat darkness. Kagome's gaze flickered to his hand next. In it, he was holding a large battleaxe. It was covered in strange markings.

Her observations were interrupted a second later by a cruel laugh. "Well, well; if it isn't Ilyomaru and Icthalur. It's been a long time boys. Ilyo, how did you enjoy your time in your tomb?" Ilyo growled at the reminder. Kuttsoh merely laughed again.

Icthalur looked at him fiercely. 'We gonna do this or not?"

Kuttsoh laughter immediately halted. He smiled dangerously. "Of course, I was merely trying to be polite. Ah, but I forgot, lizards like you have no manners."

Icthalur's eyes widened at this insult. Hissing angrily, he suddenly leapt at Kuttsoh, his sword drawn. Kagome watched, fully expecting the enraged dragon to slice the god in two, but was unpleasantly surprised when Kuttsoh simply side-stepped the attack.

Now that the fight had been started, everyone decided that it was their turn to join at the same time. Both Sesshomaru's leapt forward, swords drawn. The both released energy blasts at the same time, but Kuttsoh managed to effortlessly avoid both.

Then, it was his turn. Darting forward, he dealt a vicious punch to both Sesshomarus, sending them both flying through the air. They crashed heavily into a pile on the ground. Although they both immediately jumped back to their feet, Kagome could tell that they were both extremely shaken up at being repelled so easily.

Icthalur, meanwhile, had resumed the fight. Kuttsoh had discarded his axe, and now held a sword. Icthalur attacked him with his sword and Kagome watched in amazement as the two powerful beings went at each other. Their weapons were a blur. Each time the blades met, a massive spark would fly off into the air.

Icthalur was the first to draw blood. He managed to slip under the god's guard and slice a thin line across Kuttsoh's cheek. Unfortunately, the advantage was short-lived. Mere seconds after Icthalur scored his hit, Kuttsoh struck back, drawing a thin line of blood on Icthalur's forehead. The god smirked and lifted his eyebrows at the dragon demon, as though he was daring him to say something.

As the blood started to drip down his face, Icthalur began to grow more and more pissed off. As his anger grew, his aura began to expand and his power swelled along with it. Kagome could feel the immense energy the dragon demon was emitting and she quickly realized why Ilyo had wanted to avoid a conflict with Icthalur.

With the sudden rising of Icthalur's power, and the subsequent increase in his speed and strength, the swordplay grew more impressive until Kuttsoh suddenly lunged forward. Icthalur clearly hadn't been expecting the move and he wasn't able do anything as the god's sword slipped past his guard and pierced the right side of his chest.

Letting out a pained gasp, Icthalur took a step back and then fell to his knee. Kagome could tell that he was pretty damaged, but she instinctively knew that it was not a mortal wound. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do as Kuttsoh lifted his sword over his head and prepared to decapitate his downed opponent.

Before the death blow could be delivered however, someone else intervened. A sudden explosion of energy beside her reminded Kagome that Ilyo had not yet joined the battle. That changed quickly. His anger clearly evident, Ilyo charged at Kuttsoh. Surprised, the god attempted to change his beheading blow to slash, in order to stop Ilyo. His efforts were in vain.

Ilyo easily dodged his attack and then launched himself straight at the god. Kagome had never seen such a huge guy move so quickly. He had grasped Kuttsoh by the throat before the god could even react. Next thing that Kagome knew, Ilyo had drawn his sword, Draynal, and held the point to Kuttsoh's neck.

"I could kill you now. It would be easy." Ilyo calmly stated.

Smirking, Kuttsoh shook his head. "You couldn't kill me even if I let you," he said with a dark chuckle. "Watch." With those words, Kuttsoh suddenly disappeared from Ilyo's grasp. He reappeared a second later standing directly behind Kagome. Ilyo made as if to attack again, but he halted when Kuttsoh pointed his sword at Kagome. She had frozen in terror. She looked around and saw both Sesshomarus watching quietly. Icthalur had risen from the ground and was glaring at the god with ill-concealed hatred in his eyes.

"As far as I can tell, it was you who possessed the jewel shards. Where are they now?" the god asked.

Kagome shivered at being directly addressed by Kuttsoh-turas. She chose not to answer the question however. She could feel him suddenly shift behind her when she remained silent.

"Fine," he said after a moment, "have it your way."

Kagome gasped in sudden pain as the god's sword pierced her back, going completely through her shoulder and exiting out her chest. Her eyes widened and she coughed, which forced a small trickle of blood to come out of her mouth. The sword withdrew a second later and Kagome collapsed backwards against Kuttsoh.

The god lifted her from the ground and casually tossed her dead body through the air. She landed near Sesshomaru. The lawn grew eerily quiet. Then, a roar of rage split the air. There was an explosion of demonic energy that was so huge it knocked Kuttsoh from his feet. He got up just in time to witness the huge form of Ilyo flying through the air, directly at him.

Kuttsoh had no time to react before Ilyo hit him. He heard his own ribs crack. Pain exploded in his stomach. This was the first time the god had ever felt real pain. He screamed in agony as Ilyo's huge fist smashed into his head. Another scream was torn from his lips when the other fist hit the other side of his face.

Kuttsoh felt like his head was literally about to explode. He suddenly felt himself getting hauled to his feet. Ilyo had lifted him clear off of the ground. Through Kuttsoh's pain-saturated brain, he saw a potential opening and decided to take it. Focusing all of his unbelievable power into his fist, he brought it crashing down onto Ilyo's arm, expecting it to break.

He was sorely mistaken however. Ilyo took the blow on his arm and shook it off as if it were nothing. Kuttsoh's eyes widened with shock at the lack of a reaction from the dog demon. Then everything went dark.

Ilyo had pulled back his arm and let his fist fly, smashing the trapped god right in the face. Again and again and again Ilyo punched until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Dropping Kuttsoh, he whirled around, his eyes glowing blood red. He saw Icthalur gazing at him coolly. His friend's cold gaze slowly returned the reasoning to Ilyo's grief stricken brain.

Icthalur pointed down to the body of Kuttsoh, which lay at Ilyo's feet. Ilyo turned to look at his handiwork. He smiled grimly when he saw the results of his rage. The god's face had been completely crushed. All that remained of the once handsome face was a crushed, bleeding mass of flesh. Kuttsoh was clearly dead. Then, Ilyo remembered Kagome.

Looking up, he spotted her body lying on the ground, bloody and broken. Sadness constricted his heart, and he was about to go to her, but then he sensed another approaching power. He immediately recognized Inuyasha. He turned around just as Inuyasha dropped out of the sky, landing directly in front of Kuttsoh's body.

Ilyo growled at him. "What do you want?" Inuyasha said nothing. Instead, he reached down and thrust his clawed hand deep inside Kuttsoh-turas' chest. He groped inside for a moment and then withdrew his hand. Ilyo felt the power and quickly realized that Inuyasha had just taken the remaining piece of the Shikon Jewel.

Inuyasha grinned. "Well, congratulations on your victory over Kuttsoh-turas." Then, he glanced at Kagome's body. "Well, maybe I should be giving you my condolences, rather than my congratulations."

Ilyo growled viciously at this.

Inuyasha only smirked again. "Well, I'll be seeing you soon, big brother." With these words, Inuyasha waved and suddenly leaped into the air. There was a bright flash and he was gone. Ilyo made no effort to follow him. Instead, he made his over to where Kagome's body rested on the grass.

Present day Sesshomaru was staring at her with his mouth open. It had been a long time since he had witnessed such an emotionless slaying. Icthalur was kneeling by her side, listening for a heartbeat. Unfortunately, he couldn't detect one. He looked at Ilyo and shook his head sadly.

Ilyo fell to his knees as he looked silently at the dead body of Kagome; his Kagome. He gathered her in his arms and started to cry, silent tears running down his cheeks. Icthalur glanced at present day Sesshomaru and the two of them walked off, taking Kuttsoh's corpse with them.

Past Sesshomaru watched as his brother quietly cried over Kagome's body. He remained silent.

Meanwhile, Ilyo continued to cry, silently wishing that it was all a horrible dream and that he would wake up to find that it had all been a part of his imagination. As he cried, the watching Sesshomaru grew more and more disgusted at the fact that so strong and powerful a demon could be so grief stricken at the death of some girl. He finally decided to end his brother's grief.

Ilyo was so distracted by the dead girl in his arms, he never even noticed as the shadow fell across him and the sword struck, unerringly finding its intended target.


	16. Debts Repaid

**Debts Repaid**

* * *

Ilyo felt the blade whistle by his ear and he pulled back as the Tenseiga slashed the air above Kagome's body. He watched in amazement as she immediately groaned and began to stir.

Ilyo looked up at Sesshomaru, his eyes wide. He opened his mouth to speak but Sesshomaru interrupted him. "I don't want your thanks," the demon Lord coldly said. "I didn't want to watch someone as powerful as you waste away over the death of a female." He fell silent and then turned and walked away, heading back to the castle.

Ilyo watched him go, but another groan brought his attention back to the girl in his arms. He looked down just as she opened her eyes. She tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. "What happened?" she inquired in a hoarse voice.

Ilyo smiled gently at her and began to explain. "Kuttsoh-turas killed you and Sesshomaru brought you back with the Tenseiga. You're lucky he was here. If not, you would still be dead."

Kagome was shocked that cold, heartless Sesshomaru had brought her back to life with the Tenseiga. She started to ponder this more, but her thoughts were interrupted when Ilyo bent down and kissed her.

At first, she remained rigid in his grasp, then she got more into it and things might have went further, but Ilyo pulled back. She looked up at him, confused, but he merely picked her up. "We should get back to the castle. You're pretty dirty from when you crash landed in the dirt." He silently carried her to the castle door, and kicked it open.

Once inside, he carried her to her room. "Can you walk?" He didn't want to put her down, but she realized that he was saying she needed a shower.

"Yeah," she assured him. Setting her down gently, he watched carefully as she took a few steps. She looked at him and waved before heading into her private bathroom. Ilyo resolved himself to wait for her, so he lied down on her bed. He heard the shower turn on.

Half an hour later, he heard the water finally shut off. Sitting up, he waited for her to come out. He was surprised when she only stuck her head around the door. "Umm, can you get me some clothes? Mine are in pretty bad shape." Ilyo nodded silently and got up off the bed. Looking around, he spotted the dresser. He opened the drawers, but they were empty. He looked around for anything else that might be concealing clothing, but he couldn't find anything.

Walking to the bathroom door, he knocked quietly. "Kagome, I can't find any clothes. You'll have to make do with what you have."As an answer, the door opened slightly.

"I don't really want to put these clothes on again. They're covered in dirt and blood. Could I borrow your coat?" Ilyo immediately removed the garment in question and handed it to her. Then, he went and sat back down on the bed, waiting for her to finish whatever she was doing.

Finally, after another few minutes, the door opened. Kagome stepped out. Ilyo immediately thought to himself_, damn, this girl would look good in anything._ All she had on was his coat and she still looked great. To him, it reached just below his waist, but on her, it fell below her knees. She had brushed out her hair till it shined, and she no longer smelled like blood.

She smiled at him as he looked at her. Getting up, he motioned for her to follow him, and he led her out of the room, looking for present day Sesshomaru. "We'll find Sesshomaru. He'll probably have some proper clothing for you to wear." Kagome nodded.

When they rounded a corner, the encountered Sesshomaru, but it was past Sesshomaru. He looked at them coldly before speaking. "I suppose the female needs clothing." Ilyo nodded.

Turning, Sesshomaru walked off, leading them a short way down the hallway, into a small room. There were no fewer than six dressers along the walls. Gesturing, Sesshomaru indicated the dressers.

"Take what you wish. I am sure my future self won't mind." With that, Sesshomaru whirled around and left, closing the door behind him. Kagome immediately went to the dressers and started looking through the drawers. Ilyo looked on in amusement as she picked up and discarded many items. Finally, she settled on a black t-shirt and a short black skirt. Without thinking, she took off his coat, and stood before him, naked. He averted his gaze. Blushing, she quickly donned her chosen outfit.

Clearing her throat nervously, Kagome picked up Ilyo's jacket and handed it back to him. He took it and slipped it on. Getting up, he led her silently down the stairs into main hallway on the ground level. No one was there. Ilyo could smell food, so he followed his nose, and it led both of them to a large room, filled with many tables. Seated at one of the tables was Icthalur and present day Sesshomaru. Past Sesshomaru stood beside the table, leaning rigidly against the wall.

Ilyo and Kagome approached the table silently. Icthalur felt his friend approaching and stood up. He and Sesshomaru both gasped in shocked surprise at the sight of Kagome. Sesshomaru opened his mouth like he was going to speak, but he stopped when Kagome walked up to past Sesshomaru.

"I want to thank you for returning me to life. I wish there was something I could do for you." As she said this, she placed her hand on his shoulder. As she spoke, the two began glowing. Ilyo and Icthalur looked at the scene before them in puzzlement, but present day Sesshomaru just smiled knowingly.

The glow began to expand, forming the shape of an arm where Sesshomaru had none. The glow slowly solidified and turned into a real arm, complete with the purple markings that adorned his other arm.

Kagome withdrew her hand in shock once the process was completed. Sesshomaru looked at her like it was some kind of trick and then flexed it experimentally. He looked at Kagome, and for a moment, she could swear she saw a look of gratitude on his face. Then, his normal emotionless mask resumed its position on his handsome face.

"Thank you, girl," he said coldly and nodded once politely.

Kagome was slightly insulted by his emotionless response, so her own words were said in the same cold tone he had use. "Consider it a debt repaid." Sesshomaru nodded curtly.

That being done, Kagome turned to Icthalur and present day Sesshomaru. They were still looking at her in amazement. She sighed and started to explain. "Sesshomaru used the Tenseiga to return me to life. In return, my spiritual powers granted my unconscious wish to repay him the favour. I gave him his arm back."

Present day Sesshomaru nodded his understanding, mentally beating himself for neglecting to remember his own Tenseiga.

Ilyo suddenly remembered what Inuyasha had done. He quickly filled Kagome in on what had taken place before she was revived. She shook her head in anger. Ilyo, however, was not angry. He could respect the fact that his little brother didn't want to be weak. But Ilyo considered his methods of gaining power as pretty cowardly, stealing the shards from a supposed friend and then picking the rest from a corpse.

"Now, we don't know what Inuyasha has planned," Ilyo said. "I could probably track him down, but I have no way of knowing exactly what he has used the jewel to do. For all we know, he could be powerful enough to take me out."

Kagome looked surprised at that. "But I thought he would use the Shikon Jewel to become a full demon," she stated. "It is what he has always wanted, isn't it?"

Ilyo shook his head in reply to this. "He has always wanted to be a full-fledged demon, but I think that this may have changed. When he found out how easily I destroyed his full demon form, I believe that he decided to use the jewel in other ways. He can use it to boost his own powers, or give him new powers. Not to mention that as a half demon, he can still wield the Tetsusaiga."

Kagome nodded in agreement. Ilyo's reasoning made sense.

Through all of this, Icthalur had remained silent. Finally, he spoke up. "I know what he will do first."

Ilyo looked at him in shock. "What? You know? How?"

Icthalur shrugged his shoulders, as if to say that the answer was obvious. "What would be the first thing you would do if you were trapped in a strange land, with no way home? Then, suddenly, you had the power to return home? Inuyasha will teleport himself back to the Feudal Era."

Ilyo was silent for a moment after Icthalur said that. He was sure that his friend had guessed Inuyasha's intentions correctly. But Ilyo had a question. "Why would he even want to return? There is nothing in the Feudal Era for him."

Icthalur halted Ilyo with an upraised hand. Ilyo immediately fell silent and indicated that Icthalur should speak. "You say that Inuyasha craves power. Well, now that he possesses the completed Shikon Jewel, he is certainly very powerful. But I believe that he craves other types of power as well. Now, I'm not sure how this works, because this is a pretty unique set of circumstances, but when Sesshomaru left the Feudal Era, it was like he became dead in that Era. Therefore, his position as Lord of the Western Lands was immediately forfeited. That honour would be bestowed upon his second in command."

Everyone looked to Sesshomaru at this statement. He smirked coldly. "Next in line to the throne is my retainer, Jaken."

Kagome shuddered when she heard that. She was imagining the little toad ruling over the land.

Her thoughts were interrupted a second later by Icthalur's voice as he continued his little speech. "Now, all Inuyasha would have to do is kill the current Lord, and he would automatically become the new Lord." He paused and shook his head. "It's sad when you think about it; he will have inherited the Lordship that all three of us can lay claim to." At this, Icthalur looked at Sesshomaru and Ilyo. Ilyo was forcefully reminded of the fact that he and Icthalur had almost fought a battle to the death over the very Lordship that now belonged to some little toad demon.

Sesshomaru, the past version, immediately stepped forward. "I will not allow that half breed to take over as the Lord. I will destroy him." With this statement, Sesshomaru turned and walked quickly from the room. Ilyo immediately followed him. He instinctively knew that Sesshomaru would stop at nothing to track down Inuyasha and attempt to destroy him before he could return to the past.

As he followed Sesshomaru, Ilyo became aware of the fact that everybody else was trailing along behind him. They all arrived at the main door of the castle and quickly went outside. They watched as Sesshomaru suddenly threw his head back and screamed to the sky. Then, his body began to expand and twist.

In almost no time, they were looking at a huge silver dog. Kagome recognized Sesshomaru's true form from the time that Inuyasha had severed Sesshomaru's arm. Without waiting, Sesshomaru leapt into the air and quickly flew off through the night air in search of Inuyasha.

Kagome turned and looked at Ilyo, just in time to see him shaking his head sadly. She gave him a questioning look. "Sesshomaru might be a cold, unfeeling, emotionless bastard, but he does not deserve the beating he will get at the hands of Inuyasha. Even if he lives, his shame at being beaten by a half breed will probably destroy him."

Ilyo was suddenly interrupted by a harsh voice. "I wouldn't worry about Sesshomaru. By the time he gets back, you'll all be dead anyway."


	17. Competition

**Competition**

* * *

Ilyo turned at the sound of the voice. He immediately recognized who it was and his face split into a wide grin. "Quit bullshitting yourself. You know as well as I do that there's no way you could beat me, little girl." The speaker suddenly appeared and Kagome gasped.

It was undoubtedly a woman, but she looked incredibly strange. She was only about four feet tall, and she had dark purple hair, worn long, down past her waist. She was inhumanly beautiful, with delicate features and turquoise eyes, very feminine and petite, but Kagome sensed immense power within her. Kagome's curiosity was quickly replaced with a very different emotion however, when the strange woman threw herself into Ilyo's arms.

Ilyo held the woman close for a minute, then pulled back to take a closer look at her face. "Well, Spirah, you haven't aged a day."

She smiled up at him. "You, Ilyo, have aged many days. What did you do to your hair? It used to be so long. Now it's so short. And why are you still associating with that trash." She indicated Icthalur.

The dragon demon hissed loudly at her and shook his head. "Nice to see you to, Spirah. I notice you haven't been killed yet." Icthalur then muttered lightly under his breath, "Unfortunately."

Kagome heard this and smirked slightly. She instinctively didn't like this new woman, and she was glad someone else felt the same way.

Ilyo, meanwhile, had set down Spirah and was talking animatedly with her. Kagome only heard parts of the conversation, but she deduced that Spirah had heard about Ilyo being in this time, and she had felt his power while he had been fighting Kuttsoh-turas. She had then felt the power of the completed Shikon Jewel, and had figured that Ilyo had something to do with it. She had come to investigate.

Spirah suddenly seemed to notice Kagome. She turned to her and smiled. "I hope that you will excuse my little joke. I just saw how worried everybody looked and wanted to know how you would all react to a death threat." She giggled and turned back to Ilyo.

Kagome, meanwhile, turned to look at Icthalur. She could tell by the look of anger and hatred in his eyes that the only thing stopping him from ripping out Spirah's throat was Ilyo's presence. He suddenly turned and stalked off. Kagome shot a poisonous glance at Spirah and then followed Icthalur. She caught up with him and called his name. He whirled around when he heard her.

"Who is she? What is she? Where does Ilyo know her from?" Kagome spat out her questions in a harsh voice, causing Icthalur to smile knowingly. He figured that he might as well tell Kagome.

"They are old friends," he began, "back from when we were all very young. One day, Ilyo and I were mock battling. At the time, although we were young, we were still very powerful. Our power drew the attention of a creature that happened to live in a nearby sea. It was Spirah. She is a Sea Dragon demon. As far as I can tell, she is the only one of her kind; she's the only one I've ever encountered at any rate. Anyways, she grew interested in Ilyo, and over time, began to grow closer to him. He pushed me out, and grew closer to her. But I was not fooled. Her intentions were clear to me. She knew that we were to fight for the lordship. She was allying herself with who she judged to be the most powerful candidate. I never liked her. Ilyo, although he did enjoy her company, slowly began to realize what she truly had in mind. The next thing I knew, she was gone and he barely ever spoke of her again. I've only seen her once or twice in the last thousand years. Something happened to drive them apart."

Icthalur smiled at the memory of being told by Ilyo that Spirah would not be coming around anymore. Then, he noticed the look on Kagome's face. "Do not fear Kagome. Ilyo is completely smitten with you; I can tell. Spirah cannot do anything about that, as hard as she may try." Icthalur watched the look of jealousy fade from Kagome's face.

She gave a slight smile at his reassurance, but then her face changed to exhibit a worried look. "Should we go after Sesshomaru? If Inuyasha has become as powerful as Ilyo said, he will probably destroy Sesshomaru easily."

Icthalur nodded at her wisdom and nodded. He leapt into the air, looking down at Kagome expectantly. She tried to concentrate and then jumped into the air. To her immense delight, she remained floating in the air, exactly as Icthalur was. She smiled happily at Icthalur and he motioned for her to follow him.

They flew for less than fifteen minutes before Kagome felt an immense amount of demonic energy emitting from a rich looking hotel. She looked down and immediately saw Sesshomaru, in his humanoid form, exchanging words with Inuyasha. They were on the roof. Icthalur had noticed as well, and he quickly landed on the roof, moving to stand behind Sesshomaru. Kagome did likewise.

Sesshomaru didn't even notice, he was so focused on his little brother. Kagome listened to their words.

"You think to rule over my lands. Don't make me laugh. You are nothing but a pathetic half breed whose only way to gain power was to betray the trust of your so-called friends."

Inuyasha shrugged nonchalantly. "What I plan to do is my affair and no one else's. What were you planning to do anyways? It must be clear to you that my power now surpasses your own."

Sesshomaru growled menacingly. "Do you care to test that theory?" he inquired. With that, Sesshomaru sprung at Inuyasha, Tokijin drawn. Inuyasha laughed and easily evaded the attack. Again and again, Sesshomaru attempted to strike down his little brother, but it was all in vain. All he managed to do was knick Inuyasha's cheek, forcing a thin line of blood to appear.

Grinning, Inuyasha wiped the blood off of his face and shook his head. "Now it is my turn." In one smooth motion, Inuyasha drew Tetsusaiga from its sheath and jumped at Sesshomaru. Before he could reach Sesshomaru however, his body was jerked to a sudden stop. He looked down in surprise at the thing that had stopped him. It was a clawed hand, and it had passed right through his back and was now protruding from his stomach.

Icthalur shook Inuyasha from his hand and stepped back as the half-demon fell to the ground with a gasp of pain. He knew that there was no way such a simple injury had killed Inuyasha and he was correct.

After a minute, Inuyasha jumped back to his feet. "Were you expecting that to kill me? Please, give me some fucking credit!" Inuyasha suddenly disappeared, only to reappear directly behind Icthalur. The half-demon attempted to bring the Tetsusaiga crashing down on Icthalur's skull, but once again, he was halted.

This time, Icthalur had caught the sword by the blade. Inuyasha looked surprised, but he continued trying to force the sword down on its intended target. Icthalur quickly realized that the jewel had granted Inuyasha great physical strength. He was forced to gather his power just to push the blade back. Luckily, the sudden explosion of power alerted someone else to the situation.

Back at Sesshomaru's castle, Ilyo and Spirah had been talking. They started walking the grounds as they reminisced. Suddenly, Spirah gasped. "Oh no! I've lost my ring. Can you help me find it?"

Ilyo nodded, turned around and began to scan the ground. He immediately spotted the ring shining up at him from its place on the ground. As he bent to retrieve it, he suddenly felt the immense power of Icthalur flare up. This caused him to whirl around. He was greeted by the sight of Spirah standing behind him, a dagger held high in her hand, prepared to plunge it down into his unsuspecting back.

Ilyo quickly jerked the weapon from her hands. Now that she had been caught, Spirah's nerve appeared to have deserted her. She immediately broke down in tears and started sobbing. "It's not my fault; Inuyasha forced me to do it. He found out about our past relationship and wanted me to use our friendship to get close enough to kill you. He threatened to destroy me if I didn't agree to do it." She was a pitiful sight, lying on the ground, her small body wracked by huge sobs.

Ilyo leaned closer. She looked up happily as he gathered her into his arms, but her elation quickly morphed to horror as he started speaking.

"Do you think I'm stupid, bitch?" he asked softly. "I could smell him on you as soon as you arrived. And don't feed me your bullshit lies about being forced to help him. Although, to your credit, I believe one thing you said. I believe that he came to you, and you didn't search him out. I don't believe that you would really look to ally yourself with an obviously evil person, but if he came to you, and he had enough power, then you would help him. It's all about the power with you. That's why you left me. When I told you about my plan to give the lordship to Icthalur, to avoid killing him you realized that I would never be the Lord, so you abandoned me. Well, this time, you bet on the wrong horse, you fucking traitor. If you think Inuyasha is strong enough to defeat me, you must be more stupid than I thought. But don't worry; you won't be around long enough to witness his death."

With those final words, Ilyo thrust his huge clawed hand through her chest and grabbed a hold of her heart. Her eyes opened wide, pain radiating from them as he jerked roughly and yanked Spirah's still-beating heart right out of her chest.

Ilyo showed no emotion as dropped the corpse to the ground and rose to his feet. He stared unblinkingly at his former friend's body for a moment and then turned and flew off.

Meanwhile, back on the roof, Kagome was watching as Icthalur attempted to reverse Inuyasha's sword. Suddenly, she felt an immense power coming towards them at great speed. She recognized Ilyo's aura, and began to scan the sky as she waited impatiently for him to arrive. Then, she remembered Spirah, and she silently wished that the woman had remained behind. She was quite happy when Ilyo arrived alone. Her happiness changed to curiosity when she smelled Spirah's scent on Ilyo. Then, she noticed the slight trace of blood on his hands.

Ilyo, however, paid no attention to Kagome. Instead, he walked right up to Inuyasha and wrapped his hand around the blade of the Tetsusaiga. Ilyo yanked the sword from Inuyasha's grasp and before everyone's shocked eyes, he calmly snapped the sword into two pieces and dropped them to the ground. Inuyasha growled in anger and pulled back his fist to strike Ilyo, but he was beaten to the punch, literally.

Ilyo smashed his fist into Inuyasha's chest, sending him flying through the air. The half-demon landed hard on the other side of the roof. He was about to jump to his feet, but Ilyo sped to him and planted his huge foot on Inuyasha chest, effectively pinning him down.

"How did you find out about Spirah?" Ilyo growled, anger making his voice turn guttural. "Who has been telling you about my past?"

Inuyasha looked surprised. "She told you that I tracked her down? She must really like you, because the way I threatened her would have convinced the bravest person alive to do what I told them to. Where is she, anyways?"

Ilyo grinned at Inuyasha's question. "She's dead, idiot. Did you really think that I would fall for such as stupid ploy?" Inuyasha looked shocked that his plan had been so easily figured out. But he did not speak. He merely smirked up at Ilyo and then disappeared from beneath his foot.

Everyone looked around to see where Inuyasha would appear, but nothing happened. Then, his voice was heard.

"You think that I can be beaten so easily, you are horribly mistaken. But don't worry; you have one more day to find and destroy me, but after that, I'm returning to the Feudal Era, and the rest of you will be stuck in the time period forever."

A dark chuckle rang out and echoed around the roof for a moment before fading away, leaving nothing but silence behind.


	18. Betrayal

**Betrayal**

* * *

Ilyo stood completely stationary on the roof, pondering Inuyasha's parting words. In his current frame of mind, he wasn't sure if he even wanted to return to the Feudal Era. He knew however, that Sesshomaru wished to return, so he started formulating a plan to take the jewel from Inuyasha and use it to return to the past.

The presence of a small hand suddenly wrapping around his arm snapped Ilyo back to reality. He looked down to see Kagome looking up at him. He started to speak but she cut him off.

"You killed Spirah?" she asked quietly. When he nodded, she merely stared at him. Then she smirked.

Ilyo was surprised; he had no idea that she was so bloodthirsty. But in a second, the smirk was gone, to be replaced with a look of concern. "How are you going to track Inuyasha down? He has obviously hidden himself away for the day."

Ilyo looked down at her and it was his turn to smirk. "I'll find him. There are demons still left in this era. At least one of them must know something. Inuyasha might have even enlisted the help of one or more of the demons. It would be easy to convince them, with the power he now wields."

Kagome still looked worried. "But how are you going to get them talk? I doubt that they'll help you willingly, and they are no use to you dead, so you're death threats will be useless."

Ilyo's smirk suddenly took on a very cruel overtone and he looked to Icthalur. Icthalur grinned back at him. "Let's just say that Icthalur and myself took it upon ourselves, when we were younger, to learn as much as we could. One of the things we learned was the fine art of torture. Of course, we had to have a little practical experience on the subject. Some of our enemies that we captured did not die a quick, painless death. Some lasted for weeks." Ilyo grinned at the memory, and once again, Kagome was struck by the ruthless, remorseless persona of Ilyo. He had killed Spirah, a former friend, without any emotion, and he spoke of torture with happiness in his eyes.

Ilyo noticed the look in Kagome's eyes and his expression softened. He reached for her and pulled her close to him. "Don't worry. It may seem cruel, but I do what is necessary to ensure the survival and happiness of those I care about." Kagome nodded and allowed herself to wrap her own arms around him.

They stayed in that position until a cold voice interrupted them. "Are you two going to stand there all day, or are we going after Inuyasha?"

Kagome turned and saw both Icthalur and Sesshomaru looking at them. She blushed and jumped back from Ilyo.

Ilyo merely grinned, then turned to Sesshomaru. He indicated himself and Icthalur. "We are going. Before you join us, I need to ask a favour of you."

Sesshomaru actually allowed shock to register on his face for a second, before his emotionless mask was back in place. "What do you need?"

Ilyo motioned towards Kagome. "I want you to accompany her back to the castle. I'm worried that while we are searching for Inuyasha, he may come for her, to get to me. At least at the castle, your future self will be there to protect her, but I would like it if you would escort her back. Just in case."

Sesshomaru stared at Kagome silently for a minute before decisively nodded his head. Ilyo smiled and nodded his thanks.

Kagome, meanwhile, was staring at Ilyo in anger. "What the hell? I want to come with you!" Ilyo just shook his head. Kagome was about to argue again, but before she was able to start, Ilyo shot a glance towards Icthalur and then disappeared. Icthalur grinned at Kagome before he disappeared as well. Kagome sensed their immense energy for a second but then it moved too far away. She made as if to follow them, but a hand on her shoulder forced her to halt.

"Do not even try. You cannot catch them. Let's just return to the castle; I don't want to waste all day on this." Kagome nodded, quickly realizing that Sesshomaru was correct. If Ilyo and Icthalur did not want to be followed, no one would be able to follow them. Sighing deeply, she turned and followed Sesshomaru as he leaped up into the air and headed back towards the castle.

As they flew, Kagome's thoughts turned once again to Ilyo. He was the epitome of duality. He changed from a loving, caring person, to a remorseless, emotionless killer in the blink of an eye, and then back again just as quick. However, now that Kagome thought about, she realized that it no longer scared her or made her nervous. She now found it quite interesting, and not just a little attractive. She knew that she could never be like that.

Kagome didn't realize that Sesshomaru had been watching her from his position, beside her in the air. He was fascinated by the power she seemed to have. In all of his many years, Sesshomaru had never come across any demon that had spiritual powers. He knew that she had been a human, but he figured that when she became a demon, it should have nullified her spiritual powers. Yet she had somehow managed to retain them. Not only that, but he sensed that she was becoming more powerful as time went by. It made him nervous to think a former human female was beginning to rival his own power.

Suddenly, Kagome felt his eyes upon her and turned her head to look at him. When she saw his emotionless face, she turned back around, just in time to catch a glimpse of the castle, a few miles ahead of them. They continued on silently, and as soon as Kagome landed on the lawn, Sesshomaru turned around and headed back, following the scent that Ilyo had left behind to guide Sesshomaru to him and Icthalur. Grumbling to herself, Kagome entered the castle and set off to find present day Sesshomaru.

Meanwhile, Sesshomaru was flying towards Ilyo and Icthalur at as quick a pace as he could travel. Once again, his thoughts turned to Kagome. Her growing power was not the only thing that was disturbing him. He had begun to see that her demonic nature was slowly taking over her original side. He had seen her look at Ilyo when he spoke of torture and he could have sworn that he saw excitement in her eyes. Sesshomaru was certain that Ilyo had not noticed. He was too attracted to Kagome to see much of anything while he was in her presence.

Sesshomaru knew that eventually, unless something happened to stop it, Kagome would be overcome by her demonic nature. It would change her into a murdering beast, unless she managed to gain complete control over it. Sesshomaru could control his demon side. He could transform into his true demon form at will and he had complete control over all aspects of himself and his power. But he was an anomaly. Ilyo, as powerful as he was, did not even have complete control over himself. He had allowed himself to lose control when Kagome's life had threatened. Sesshomaru felt sadness for his brother. He felt that Ilyo should have realized that he was more dangerous as a calm and calculating fighter than as a raving beast.

Sesshomaru's thoughts were interrupted when he heard a scream coming from directly beneath him. He quickly realized that the scream had come from a demon. Then, he felt Icthalur's power flare up for a moment. It came from beneath him as well.

Looking down, Sesshomaru saw a huge house. It was nowhere near as large as his castle, but it was quite impressive nonetheless. Landing lightly on the ground, he walked through the open door, his previously thoughtful face expression quickly replaced by a blank mask. A horrible sight met his eyes.

A demon was lying on the floor. He was average size, but that was about all that Sesshomaru could see about him. His face and flesh had been horribly burned, as if someone had held him in fire. Then, Sesshomaru noticed Icthalur and Ilyo standing off to the side.

Icthalur grinned when the demon Lord noticed him. "We've just been extracting a little bit of information from our little friend here. You've arrived just in time. I think he's just about ready to talk."

The demon stirred and spat blood onto the ground beside him. "I... won't... say... anything..." he managed to spit out.

Ilyo grinned at that. "You heard him Icthalur. I guess he needs a little bit more convincing."

Icthalur nodded and walked forward. He held his hand in front of the demon's horribly burnt face. A fireball quickly formed in Icthalur's palm and he pressed it into the demon's face. It screamed in agony as what remained of its flesh melted off. Icthalur withdrew before the demon was killed.

"Will you talk now?" Ilyo asked this question calmly, and was not surprised when the demon nodded feebly.

"Inuyasha hired me to be a kind of watch guy," it gasped out, pain causing its voice to crack and break after every few words. "If I see you, I call a phone number, and your position is recorded. There are a bunch of us all over the country. As soon as one of us spots you, we call a number, and all of the places you were sighted get recorded. That way, Inuyasha would know if you were succeeding or failing in tracking him down."

Ilyo nodded. "Where is he?"

Sesshomaru did not expect the demon to answer, but surprisingly it did.

"He is hiding out in a mansion about an hour's flight west of here," it revealed.

Ilyo nodded his understanding and then whirled around and exited the house. Icthalur and Sesshomaru followed him, leaving the dying demon on the floor to suffer alone with its horrible agony.

Once outside, Ilyo turned to his companions. "We know where Inuyasha is. Now, we need to take the jewel away from him."

Icthalur nodded to indicate his understanding. He turned and made as if he was about to take off, but Ilyo held him back.

"No. When we fight, it must be on our terms, not his. If we go to him, he will have the advantage. We must make him come to us. Luckily, I know how." Icthalur and Sesshomaru looked at him with curiosity. "Sesshomaru here will go to Inuyasha and tell him that he has deserted us and wants to help him," Ilyo elaborated. "He will tell Inuyasha that he has badly wounded me. As proof, Sesshomaru, you'll have to stab me. Inuyasha will smell my blood on your sword and he will believe you. Inuyasha will not be able to pass up the chance to finish me off while I can't fight back. He will immediately come to the castle. Once there, we will have the advantage and we can take the jewel away from him. Then, Sesshomaru can return to the Feudal Era."

Icthalur indicated that he thought that it was a good plan.

Sesshomaru, for his part, was extremely pleased by the plan. He had been getting bored from doing nothing all the time. This plan gave him the opportunity to do something. He turned to Ilyo and drew Tokijin.

Ilyo gestured for him to proceed with the plan. Sesshomaru thrust the blade forward, sliding it roughly in between his brother's ribs. Ilyo didn't even flinch. He just stood there as Sesshomaru withdrew the sword. Ilyo was about to say that Sesshomaru should get going, when a second sword thrust caught him in the chest. He looked at Sesshomaru in surprise.

"You're plan is good. But mine is better. I will go to Inuyasha, but I will take the jewel from him myself. Then I will have it and I will be the uncontested Lord. Before I go, I offer you a piece of advice, my brother. Watch your female closely. Her demon side is starting to show through." With that, Sesshomaru flew away. Icthalur watched him go, amazed at the balls he had just showed by attacking Ilyo. Then he remembered Ilyo.

Icthalur turned and saw Ilyo standing still, his eyes closed tightly. His two wounds, both of which would have been mortal wounds to almost anyone else, rapidly healed. Ilyo watched Sesshomaru fly away and shook his head in sadness. Then he turned to Icthalur.

"He has made his decision. Let him go to his death. We have things to do." With that, both took off, flying quickly back towards the castle.


	19. New Enemy

**New Enemy**

* * *

Ilyo and Icthalur arrived back at the castle in almost no time.

When they entered it, Ilyo was immediately set upon by Kagome. "Did you find out where he is?" Ilyo nodded quickly. Kagome smiled broadly and looked around. "Where is Sesshomaru?" she asked, confused by the demon Lord's absence.

Ilyo figured he might as well be straight with her. "He has abandoned us. He stabbed me and then flew off to destroy Inuyasha."

Kagome looked surprised for a minute. Then her anger got the better of her. "That stupid bastard! Next time I see him, I'll tear his damned throat out!"

Ilyo looked down at her in shock. Sesshomaru's parting words, his warning, flashed through Ilyo's mind at that point. He quickly realized that Kagome's demonic nature was taking hold of her and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

As Kagome continued ranting, her eyes began to glow red. Ilyo could tell that her anger had been building up for a while and the situation of Sesshomaru betraying them was just an outlet for her to let it all out. He watched nervously as her fangs began growing and she started growling.

Icthalur had also quickly come to a conclusion about what was taking place. Acting quickly, he delivered a sharp blow to the back of Kagome's head. It knocked her out instantly. He smirked at Ilyo, who was looking at him with a heavy frown on his face."What?" he asked defensively. "You weren't doing anything; somebody had to."

Ilyo nodded at the quick thinking Icthalur had displayed, though he was still a little angry that his friend had struck his girlfriend. He looked in sadness at Kagome's crumpled form. Kneeling down, he lifted her carefully and carried her off towards her room. Once he reached the room, he placed her gently on the bed, tucked her blankets snugly around her and then returned to Icthalur.

"Now we need to plan for the upcoming battle," he stated as he came to stand beside his old friend. "We both know that Sesshomaru can't defeat Inuyasha. But Inuyasha will certainly detect my blood on Sesshomaru's blade. He will come here, thinking that I am wounded. Unfortunately for him, I heal really fast."

Icthalur nodded. He knew that Ilyo's plan was still going to work, regardless of the betrayal of Sesshomaru.

The two walked outside to wait. Ilyo figured that Inuyasha probably wouldn't even kill Sesshomaru. As soon as he thought that Ilyo was wounded, he would leave and come straight to the castle. Ilyo estimated it would probably be about another twenty minutes before Inuyasha arrived.

The two were suddenly joined by present day Sesshomaru. He looked ready for a fight. Ilyo grinned at his brother. Sesshomaru said nothing. He merely stood silently, waiting for Inuyasha. They didn't have to wait long. Surprisingly, the half-demon was not alone.

Inuyasha and Sesshomaru landed silently before Ilyo, Icthalur, and present day Sesshomaru. Ilyo looked at Sesshomaru in shock. "I thought that you were too honourable to associate with that trash. Was I wrong?"

Sesshomaru shrugged at the question. "I want to go home, and he is the only one who can get me there."

Inuyasha stepped forward after that. "Sesshomaru has chosen wisely; he knows a winner when he sees one. Now, I believe that it is time for a fight. You want the jewel, come and get it." With that, the battle commenced.

Icthalur immediately attacked Sesshomaru, who had drawn Tokijin. Icthalur took a direct blast from the demon sword, but shook it off like it was nothing. Drawing his own sword, Icthalur started trading blows with Sesshomaru, both of them whirling around in a vicious, deadly circle.

At the same time, both Ilyo and present day Sesshomaru had leapt at Inuyasha. He had no weapon, since Ilyo had destroyed the Tetsusaiga, so he defended himself from Tokijin with only his claws. He managed to send the weapon flying from Sesshomaru's hand and then dealt him a vicious blow to the face. It sent Sesshomaru careening backwards through the air. He got back up quickly, but immediately realized that Ilyo had to be the one to fight Inuyasha, so he stayed back and watched the battle continue, ready to step in if it became necessary.

Ilyo, meanwhile, attacked Inuyasha viciously. He delivered punch after punch, sending the smaller demon to the ground again and again. But he just wouldn't stay down. He got up each time as if it were nothing. Ilyo quickly realized that this fight would go on for a very long time. He would tirelessly beat the crap out of Inuyasha, but it would never be permanent. And Inuyasha was not powerful enough to mount any real offence against Ilyo. Ilyo knew that he had to end it now. Withdrawing his sword, he went for a killing blow, and he gave Inuyasha the opening he had been waiting for.

As soon as Ilyo raised his sword over his head for the death strike, Inuyasha quickly withdrew the Shikon Jewel from his pocket and thrust it forward into Ilyo's chest. Ilyo gasped in surprise and stepped backwards, falling to his knees.

Inuyasha had hoped that his unexpected move would incapacitate his eldest brother. He figured that the immense power of the sacred jewel being added suddenly to Ilyo's body would have a negative effect on him. Unfortunately for the half-demon, before he could capitalize on Ilyo's weakness, a sword was thrust into his body from behind.

Inuyasha turned slowly as the sword was withdrawn, already dying, to see Sesshomaru staring at him. It was not present day Sesshomaru. Leaning in close to Inuyasha's face, Sesshomaru growled, "I would never betray my companions to work with you. Unluckily for you, you were too stupid to see that."

Sesshomaru quickly pulled away when he heard a feeble chuckle emit from Inuyasha's dying body. "I am not as stupid as you think, Sesshomaru. Although I did not think you would kill me, my main goal has already come to pass. Very soon, another will rise up to take my place, and he will not be so easy to defeat. I'll see you all in hell." With a loud growl, Inuyasha finally died. A trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

Sesshomaru stepped back from his brother's body. He turned to see Icthalur and present day Sesshomaru rushing over to Ilyo. He joined them.

Ilyo had risen to his feet. He stood there, looking thoughtful, as his friends ran to him. "Ilyo, are you alright?" Icthalur asked the question with great concern. In all his years with Ilyo, he had never seen his friend stumble like that in battle. No one had seen Inuyasha push the jewel into Ilyo. All they had seen was the huge dog demon fall to his knees. They assumed that he had been injured. But he just smiled.

"I'm fine. He just caught me by surprise; that's all." The Sesshomarus seemed to accept the explanation, but Icthalur remained unconvinced. He did not give voice to his doubts however. Ilyo had already turned towards the castle. Icthalur figured he was going to check on Kagome.

The two Sesshomarus remained outside with Icthalur. Icthalur turned to past Sesshomaru. "That was a good ploy. You even fooled Ilyo and me. But now I wonder, what was Inuyasha talking about? He said someone new would take his place? Where did he hide the jewel? I can't sense it anywhere." Both Sesshomarus shook their heads. Icthalur shrugged. "Ilyo will track it down soon. I think he went to check on Kagome."

Meanwhile, Ilyo was walking towards Kagome's room, interrogating himself mentally. _Why didn't I tell them about the jewel? _But he had no answer.

It didn't take him long to arrive at Kagome's room. He quietly opened the door, and quickly realized that she was out cold. He was watching her quietly when intense pain suddenly erupted in his chest.

Ilyo fell to his knees, overwhelmed by the intense agony, but the pain was gone in a second. Ilyo got slowly to his feet, looking down in shock at his chest. Then, he looked up at Kagome's sleeping form. For a horrible instant, Ilyo felt an urge to kill the sleeping girl. The urge was gone in a second, but it scared the hell out of him. Turning, he quickly strode away from Kagome.

Ilyo walked towards the presence of Icthalur. He found his friend, along with both Sesshomarus, sitting at a table located in a small room. As soon as he entered, they looked up at him. He smiled.

"Kagome is still out. But I believe that she will awaken soon. Until then, we must talk. Inuyasha said something about someone else taking his place, a much stronger being. There are not currently any demons remaining in this era who are stronger than he was, regardless of the jewel's power." Ilyo chose not to mention his pain, or his fleeting desire to kill Kagome as she slept.

Icthalur did not say anything, but he had a feeling that Ilyo was hiding something from them. He remained silent however, and indicated that Ilyo should continue.

"Well, since there is no one else, Inuyasha must have been bluffing. All we need is the Shikon Jewel and we can figure out who will be returning to the Feudal Era. I figure that I can get it tomorrow, but today, we should relax. We have had enough worry in the past few days; we deserve a day to take a break."

Icthalur and both Sesshomarus nodded in agreement. Then, Icthalur grinned. "Well, that's a good plan. What did you have in mind?"

Ilyo thought for a moment. "I figure we all do whatever we want for the next five hours and then come back here for some dinner. Then, it's time to sleep, and tomorrow, we'll get the sacred jewel and everything will be back to normal." Icthalur nodded and quickly left the room. Both Sesshomarus left as well, leaving Ilyo alone with his thoughts.

Once Icthalur left, he quickly exited the castle and flew off. He was going to go have some fun. Unlike Ilyo, Icthalur did not believe that Inuyasha had been lying. He'd had no reason to not be straight with them. So Icthalur was going out to have one last day of fun before the inevitable battle.

Landing on a sidewalk, he saw his destination. It was the same bar that he'd had some fun in the other night. Grinning, he walked into it and sat down at the newly repaired bar. After a couple of beers, Icthalur decided that he would rather sit and reflect than start any fights. But the choice was taken out of his hands.

"Hey, you son of a bitch; I owe you an ass kicking." Icthalur turned and saw the same guy whose beer he had drank the other night, the cause of the fight.

"Well, I guess I'm not going to be getting any thinking done here." With that, he threw a punch at the guy, catching him beneath the chin and sending him flying across the room. Icthalur leaped after the fallen man with a huge grin on his face.

After the five hours had passed, everyone gathered back at Sesshomaru's castle for dinner. Kagome had still not awoken. Everyone ate and had fun; they told jokes and stories. But then it ended and talk turned serious. For some reason, the topic of conversation returned to Inuyasha's last words. Everyone started debating on who remained in the world that could be the one Inuyasha had spoken of.

Ilyo tried to put a stop to the conversation. "I've already told you guys, Inuyasha was bluffing. There is not any demon remaining in this era that could be as powerful Inuyasha said."

However, Icthalur was struck by a sudden, horrible thought. "You're wrong. There are still four demons remaining in this era who wield far greater power than Inuyasha ever did."

Ilyo looked like he was about to say something, but before he could, Kagome entered the room. She opened her mouth to speak, but then she turned to Ilyo. Her eyes widened in horror and she let out a horrified scream. "Your aura, it's turned black!"

Ilyo looked down at himself. Suddenly, horrible agony ripped through his body once again and he fell to the floor. Kagome rushed to him, but before she reached him, he had already started to climb back to his feet. When he looked at her, she jumped backwards in horror. His golden eyes had turned pitch black.

Ilyo looked at everyone for a minute and then laughed cruelly. "I'll be seeing you all again very soon." With that, Ilyo simply faded away, leaving nothing behind but four very shocked demons.

Icthalur was the first to speak. "Well, now we know who Inuyasha was talking about. But there is still one question. How did this happen?"

The answer would have been obvious if anybody would have seen the sacred jewel when it was forced into Ilyo's body. It had been pitch black.


	20. The Only Way

**The Only Way**

* * *

Icthalur spoke suddenly, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "There is nothing we can do for Ilyo. All we can do now is wait. He said he would be back soon. But we have to be careful; Ilyo must have the sacred jewel. And when Inuyasha possessed it, his power grew immensely. I can't even imagine how much power Ilyo now wields." Icthalur shivered at the thought. All that power available to a demon that was never very predictable in the first place was a very scary thought.

Icthalur then turned to Kagome. "You in particular should be very careful. I doubt very much that he has lost his feelings for you. And now, he most likely does not possess the control he once had. Be careful." Kagome nodded fearfully.

Present day Sesshomaru was the next to speak up. "What will he do? I mean, what can he do now that he couldn't do before? He already was immensely powerful. He could have claimed Lordship over the lands. What is left?"

Unfortunately, Icthalur did not have an answer for that question. With Inuyasha, it had been easy to figure out what he would do, because there were things that he hadn't been able to do before. It had been easy to guess that he would use the jewel's power to do the things he had been too weak to accomplish before. But with Ilyo, there was very little he couldn't have already done. There was no way to figure out what he was planning.

Icthalur suddenly turned and left the room. He quickly made his way out of the castle into the night air. The two Sesshomaru's remained in the small room, quietly wondering why Icthalur had left so suddenly. What they didn't know was that Icthalur had felt himself being called outside by a commanding voice.

Once outside, Icthalur quickly noticed a large form sitting on the ground. Its back was resting against a tree and its head was slumped down onto its chest. He moved closer, and his eyes widened when he realized that it was Ilyo.

Icthalur was about to draw his sword, but Ilyo looked up before he could, revealing his golden eyes. Icthalur halted and a surprised look on his face appeared on his face. Ilyo said nothing; he just motioned for Ilyo to sit down beside him.

Once the dragon demon had seated himself beside his friend, Ilyo began to speak in a low voice. "I will have to leave soon. I can't control myself. Very soon, the jewel will take control again. Before that happens, I will tell you what happened." Icthalur nodded and gestured for him to continue.

"When I was fighting Inuyasha, I attempted to kill him with my sword. That left him an opening and he took it. He thrust the sacred jewel into me, into my heart. It didn't kill me, but the power overwhelmed me. Now, I realize that was Inuyasha's plan all along. Overwhelm me and then finish me off. But it backfired. He was not expecting Sesshomaru to kill him, but his ploy had another effect. See, since the jewel had been with him and his evil intentions, it had been tainted. In my heart, the evil jewel is now fighting me for control of my body. And ultimately, it will win." Ilyo finished his tale and waited for Icthalur to speak.

"What are we supposed to do?" the dragon demon inquired. He had never heard of a situation like that before. "Even just sitting here, I can tell that your power has grown by a huge margin. I might not have even been to defeat you before, so there's no way I can beat you now."

Ilyo smiled sadly at that. "In regards to that, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the jewel can be removed from my heart, which will destroy the threat." Icthalur grinned happily, but then he faltered as Ilyo continued. "But the bad news is that the removal of the jewel will kill me. It is inside my heart now, so the only way to get it out is to tear a hole in my heart and wrench the jewel out."

Icthalur's eyes widened in horror, but before he could speak, Ilyo had leapt to his feet. "I have to leave now. Please protect Kagome." With that, Ilyo once again faded away, leaving Icthalur standing alone, wondering how he was going to tell Kagome what Ilyo had just said to him.

Meanwhile, Kagome had been sitting in her room quietly, when she suddenly felt Ilyo's presence. She had rushed out of her room, only to run right into Icthalur. She bounced off and fell on her ass. He looked down in amusement as she stood up, embarrassed. But embarrassment quickly faded when she remembered why she had been running.

"Icthalur, I sensed Ilyo and he seemed normal. His demonic energy was the way it used to be."

Seeing how happy she looked, Icthalur couldn't bring himself to tell her what Ilyo had said. Instead, he smiled at her. "Maybe he still has some control left. But don't get your hopes up. He could just be screwing with us." Kagome smile faltered a bit, but she still felt happy. Icthalur turned and left her. Kagome returned to her room and quickly fell asleep.

Icthalur, meanwhile, returned to the small room where both Sesshomaru's remained. As soon as he entered the room, both turned to him in surprise. They could both faintly smell Ilyo. Noting there looks, he quickly explained what had happened and what Ilyo had told him.

When he was finished, present day Sesshomaru spoke. "Have you told Kagome?"

Icthalur stared at him silently for a moment before answering. "No. I couldn't bring myself to tell her. She loves him and he will have to die."

Past Sesshomaru scoffed. "If you will not inform her, then I will. She has a right to know."

Wheeling around, Sesshomaru exited the room before anyone could stop him. Icthalur and present day Sesshomaru were surprised, and stood still for a moment before hurrying after him. By the time they caught up with him, he had already made it to the door of Kagome's room. But he never got a chance to tell her.

A scream was heard from inside the room. Sesshomaru wrenched open the door and entered the room, closely followed by Icthalur and present day Sesshomaru. They were greeted with an empty room and the lingering sent of fear, mixed with something else. It was like Ilyo's scent, but different. They all immediately knew that Ilyo had taken Kagome.

Icthalur quickly rushed up the stairs that led to the roof. Once he got there, he could easily discern Kagome's scent, leading away from the castle. Icthalur knew that he had to go after Kagome. He would never forgive himself if he let harm come to his best friend's lover, even if the danger came from said best friend.

Just as he was about to take off, a hand on his shoulder halted him. Icthalur turned to see present day Sesshomaru holding a note out to him. Icthalur looked at it questioningly, and Sesshomaru shrugged.

"I found it on Kagome's bed," he explained. "It appears to have been left by Ilyomaru."

Sesshomaru handed it to Icthalur and stepped back to let him read it.

_Icthalur,_

_I have taken Kagome. If you wish to save her, you better come quickly because I am fighting for control of this body and I don't know how much longer I can last. Ilyo is very strong willed and, even though I am immensely powerful, he has been able to push me back. As soon as he starts to regain control over his body, I will kill her. So you had better hurry._

Icthalur crumpled the letter in anger. He was being goaded. The jewel, or whatever the hell it was that now controlled Ilyo's body, was attempting to draw him into a fight. That way, the only creature that could possibly stand a chance against Ilyo in battle would be dead.

Icthalur, always a very hot tempered person, turned to both Sesshomarus. "We must track down Ilyo and Kagome. Unfortunately, her scent will undoubtedly fade as we get farther away from here. We will have to revert to our true forms to track them."

Both Sesshomarus grinned widely at that. As many differences as there were between the two of them, both Sesshomarus loved to be able to transform into their true demonic form.

In an instant, both Sesshomarus changed. They quickly became their true demon forms; huge, ferocious-looking white dogs. Jumping into the air, they waited with interest to see what Icthalur's true form would like. Icthalur grinned and then started his own transformation.

As they watched, Icthalur's flesh became scales, and he grew a lot larger. Suddenly, he keeled over, only to catch himself with his arms, which were now more like legs. The two Sesshomarus look up at his face, which was clearly visible to their impressive night vision. Said face had elongated, and his mouth quickly filled up with viciously sharp fangs. Suddenly, a set of leathery wings sprouted out of his back, and he launched himself into the air. He was a dragon, pitch black in colour and at least twice as large as his two companions.

All of a sudden, Icthalur wheeled in the air and took off, flying amazingly fast. Both Sesshomarus took off after him, racing just to keep as close to him as possible. Unfortunately, they were not nearly fast enough to keep up and were quickly left behind. Icthalur, however, didn't care. The two would easily be able to follow him just by tracking his scent.

Now that Icthalur's senses were improved, he could easily follow the scent left by Ilyo and Kagome. It led directly into the heart of the city. Icthalur followed it without hesitation, regardless of the fact that many humans were staring up at him in confusion and fear. It wasn't every day that a giant dragon flew right over a bustling city.

Finally, Icthalur spotted an immensely tall building, and with his keen eyesight, he could see Ilyo staring at him through a window, about three quarters of the way up the building. Icthalur thought for a minute about what was the fastest way into the building and came to a quick conclusion.

When he was about two hundred feet from the correct window, Icthalur quickly reverted back to his humanoid form. Since he had been flying so fast, his momentum carried him forward, into and through the window. He crashed heavily to the floor as pieces of glass rained down around him.

Ilyo stood there calmly as Icthalur got to his feet. The first thing that Icthalur noticed was how Ilyo's eyes were beginning to lighten from pitch black to gold. Knowing he had little time, Icthalur jumped Ilyo, sending them both careening to the ground. Ilyo shoved Icthalur off of him, and sent the dragon demon flying backwards, crashing through a wall.

Turning, Ilyo was about to kill Kagome, who had been huddled behind a desk, but suddenly, Ilyo regained control of his body. He dropped his hand and backed away from Kagome. At that moment, Icthalur returned, He quickly noticed that Ilyo's eyes had returned to their regular golden colour.

Ilyo turned to Icthalur and began to speak. What he said drew a gasp of horror from Icthalur. "You must remove the jewel from me now. I don't know how much longer I can retain control over myself."

Icthalur face turned white. "No. I won't do it."

Kagome looked at both of them in "Why won't you remove the jewel? Won't that stop him from being evil?"

Icthalur turned to her, smilingly bitterly. "Oh, it will stop him from being evil. And it will kill him."

Kagome looked at Ilyo in horror.

"It's the only way," Ilyo said desperately, gazing into her eyes. "Trust me; it's better to have me dead, than evil and out of control. No one can understand exactly what I'm capable of, not to mention the added power of the jewel. This is the only way to stop this before anyone gets hurt."

Kagome had started to cry, but Icthalur had seen the wisdom in his friend's words. Sighing heavily, he moved to stand in front of Ilyo.

Ilyo looked at him silently for a moment and then removed his coat and t-shirt, exposing his chest. Then, he smiled peacefully at Icthalur. "Goodbye, my friend. You have been like a brother to me. And Kagome, I love you." His goodbyes said, Ilyo motioned for Icthalur to proceed.

With tears in his eyes, Icthalur plunged his clawed hand into Ilyo's chest and closed it around his heart.


	21. Alone

**Alone**

* * *

Icthalur's hand was brought to a sudden halt. Try as he might, he was unable to close bring his claws into contact with Ilyo's heart.

Leaning down, he withdrew his arm from Ilyo's chest and peered inside the hole he had created. After a few seconds of looking at the heart closely, Icthalur noticed that it seemed to be surrounded by a black barrier of some sort. He looked up at Ilyo's face, thinking that maybe the jewel had regained control, but the dog demon was unconscious. Icthalur figured that he had knocked himself out to avoid the pain of having his chest and heart ripped open. Then, struck by a sudden unpleasant thought, Icthalur turned back to the jewel.

"The fucking jewel put up a barrier around itself!" Icthalur said this incredulously. Kagome came to stand beside him. Looking down, she immediately saw that he was right. There was indeed a black barrier surrounding Ilyo's heart. For a second, she was happy, knowing that there was no way that they could kill Ilyo now.

Then, she felt selfish. Regardless of her personal feelings for Ilyo, she knew that he had to die. If someone with his power, turned evil, was set loose upon the world, it would be like Hell on earth. _Everybody will suffer if I don't do this_, she thought. With one final sad look at her boyfriend's face, she resolved herself to do what she had to do.

Reaching out, Kagome placed her own hand where Icthalur's had been. Calling upon all of the spiritual powers she possessed, Kagome attempted to purify the barrier.

Icthalur looked at her in surprise before speaking. "If you do this, he will die," he cautioned. "Are you prepared to deal with that?" Icthalur asked the question quietly, and he quickly realized that her position conveyed just how prepared she was. The fact that she was standing there, already attempting to destroy the barrier was answer enough.

At first, nothing happened. Then, slowly, the black barrier was overwhelmed by the pinkish light that was flowing from Kagome's hand. The barrier glowed pink, then shattered. Icthalur looked at his friend sadly, knowing that the time had come for the jewel had been removed. Icthalur stepped forward, ready to finish what he had started, but a peculiar sight caused him to halt.

Kagome, after destroying the barrier, had remained standing over Ilyo. She started saying her quiet goodbye to Ilyo, so that Icthalur wouldn't hear. Then, suddenly, Ilyo's eyelids shot open, revealing the black eyes. His hand shot straight for Kagome's throat and he growled softly. Icthalur moved towards them, but Ilyo raised his other hand, and with a bright flash, a burst of energy sent Icthalur flying backwards back into the destroyed wall.

"Goodbye, Kagome." Ilyo growled this into her face cruelly as he started to constrict her throat.

Unnoticed by Ilyo however, Kagome's hand had remained over his heart. As he slowly began choking the life out of her, her spiritual powers once again began flowing. This time, with no barrier, the energy flowed, unfiltered, directly into Ilyo's heart.

At first, there was nothing. Ilyo continued to choke Kagome but suddenly, his grip loosened. He threw Kagome to the floor and gripped his head in his hands. When he looked up, Kagome noticed that Ilyo's eyes were starting to lighten in colour. Before long, they had returned to the original golden colour.

Cautiously, Kagome got to her feet and moved to stand beside Ilyo. "Are you okay?"

Looking up, Ilyo surprised Kagome with a huge grin. He stood up, his large form towering over her. Reaching down, he lifted Kagome up to his eye level and laughed loudly. "Okay? Okay? I'm better than okay, much better. I haven't felt this good in a long time. It must be the jewel."

With no further words, Ilyo crushed his lips to Kagome's in a passionate kiss. Kagome reacted favourably and began to kiss back. However, they were rudely interrupted when a large steel pipe was suddenly smashed into Ilyo's back.

The pipe shattered instantly upon making contact with Ilyo's back. Setting Kagome down, Ilyo turned to face a grinning Icthalur. The dragon demon shrugged. "Just testing your strength." Ilyo eyed him angrily for a minute, then the two burst out laughing. Kagome just looked on with amusement.

Finally, after ten minutes of nothing but the two friends laugh uproariously, Ilyo's mind turned to other things. Looking around, he located his t-shirt and jacket. He slipped them both on then turned back to Icthalur."You're lucky my jacket wasn't damaged or I would have had to take yours."

Icthalur nodded, grinning, although Ilyo seemed pretty serious.

Then, Ilyo turned to Kagome. "Well, I guess we'd better get back to the castle. We'll probably meet up with both Sesshomarus. They are very close to here." Looking out the shattered window, Kagome saw that Ilyo was right. She could see two large dogs coming towards them, through the air.

Suddenly, Kagome collapsed without warning. Icthalur looked at her in concern, but Ilyo, who was closer, looked at her unconscious form and smiled. "She is worn out from using her spiritual powers. I doubt that she has ever called forth that much power in so short a time." Bending down, Ilyo reached out and gently lifted her to his chest. Then, both he and Icthalur jumped out of the window and floated off to meet past and present day Sesshomaru.

As they flew through the air, back towards the castle, Ilyo and Icthalur filled both Sesshomarus in on what had taken place. By the time the tale was finished, the group had landed back at the castle. As Ilyo took Kagome to her bed to rest, the other three went into a small room and sat down on some comfortable chairs, waiting for Ilyo to return.

Once the eldest dog demon returned, present day Sesshomaru had a question for him. "Since the jewel is trapped in your body, how is my past self going to return to the past?"

Ilyo turned to him. "I think that I am now able to create a portal. Unfortunately, I don't know for sure."

Everybody looked at him with curiosity in their eyes for a minute. Icthalur broke the silence. "What do you mean? If Inuyasha was able to create a portal, surely you should be able to."

Ilyo shrugged slightly before answering. "I think we may have been mistaken in assuming that Inuyasha would be able to travel back to the past, and he just let us believe that was capable of it. Now that I have the jewel, I find that all it does is enhance my own traits. It makes me more powerful, but does not grant any new abilities. For example, I was already very fast. Now, I can move so fast, it is like I'm teleporting." Ilyo shook his head, angry over the fact that he was unable to do the one thing he wanted to be able to do.

Then, past Sesshomaru spoke up. "How am I to return to my time then?"

Ilyo pondered the question for a moment before responding. "Well, from what I understand about the well, since it existed in both eras, it could be filled with the energy that is required for time travel. As far as I know, if there was another object, like the well, that existed in both times, it could be used for a temporary portal, a one way ticket to the past."

Everybody got quiet then, trying to think of something that could be used. Past Sesshomaru was the first one to think of something.

"What about the large tree in near Kagome's home?" he suggested. "It is the same tree that Inuyasha was sealed to."

Ilyo thought about it for a minute before nodding. "Yes, that might work, but I will have to put a lot of energy into it." Ilyo stopped and looked around thoughtfully for a minute. Then he smiled. "Yes, I can do it. When do you want to go, Sesshomaru?"

Sesshomaru didn't hesitate for a second. "Right now." The short answer was not unexpected.

Standing up, Ilyo nodded. "I will go get Kagome, then we will return to her home, and I can create the portal for you." With that, Ilyo turned and exited the room, making his way to Kagome's room, and leaving the other three sitting there.

As soon as he left, Icthalur spoke up. "Sesshomaru, you realize that as soon as your past self returns to the Feudal Era, you will cease to exist. The past has been changed now that Inuyasha has died."

Present day Sesshomaru nodded and then brought up another interesting fact. "You guys do realize that when Ilyo creates the portal, the amount of energy he puts into it will undoubtedly destroy the tree, in at least one of the eras, right?"

Icthalur nodded sadly. "Yes, I know that. But I don't think he has realized it yet. I'm not going to tell him though. He has to choose to either stay in this era or return to the past. His choice can't be swayed by anything. If he knew that there was no way back, he would undoubtedly choose to remain here, and I don't think that is a good idea. Everybody should live their life and he lost four hundred years of his. He should not miss another five hundred." Icthalur finished this speech and found both Sesshomarus nodded in agreement. Then, all three rose and went to wait for Ilyo and Kagome in the main hallway.

Meanwhile, Ilyo had made it to Kagome's room. He knocked on the door, but there was no reply, so he opened it quietly. Kagome was sleeping, but she was tossing and turning, as if she was having a bad dream. Ilyo was about to wake her, but then she started speaking. He halted and listened to her silently.

"No, don't go. You can't leave me now. We've gone through so much together." From the content of her words, Ilyo surmised she was dreaming about him. At that moment, Kagome suddenly sat up. Her eyes turned to Ilyo and he noticed that they were full of tears. Before he could do or say anything, she had leapt of the bed and into his arms, sobbing wildly.

"I dreamed that we were standing around a tree," she cried, "and Sesshomaru left, then the other Sesshomaru left, then Icthalur left, and then you left. And I was all alone." She started to really cry after that.

Ilyo looked at her nervously, unsure of exactly how to deal with the extremely upset girl in his arms."Don't worry," he whispered reassuringly, "I won't leave you. I'll stay with you forever."

That seemed to calm Kagome, because her crying seemed to fade away and she looked up at him happily. Ilyo smiled at her then set her down on her feet. "Come on, we have to go. Sesshomaru is in quite a hurry to return to his time." Kagome nodded and followed Ilyo as he walked back towards the main hallway.

When Ilyo and Kagome got to the hallway, they saw Icthalur and both Sesshomarus waiting for them. At Ilyo's gesture, they all left the castle and flew off towards Kagome's home. It didn't take long before they landed directly in front of the tree.

Sesshomaru looked impatiently at Ilyo. "Get on with it." he prompted.

Ilyo nodded and stepped to the tree. He placed both hands on the bark and concentrated. Everyone could feel the energy being forced into the tree. A second later, it began to glow a brilliant blue. Ilyo turned his head and motioned for Sesshomaru to come to him.

Sesshomaru walked to Ilyo. "Place your hands on the tree and continue to walk forwards," the elder dog demon instructed.

Sesshomaru nodded his understanding and did as he was told. Silently, he walked into the tree and disappeared. Kagome was startled out of watching when a hand grabbed her arm. She turned and saw present day Sesshomaru. She was shocked to see that he appeared to be fading away.

"Goodbye Kagome," he said quietly. "I wish you luck in your future." With that, both Sesshomarus were gone.

Kagome was about to question Icthalur about where present day Sesshomaru had gone, but a shout drew her attention. She turned to see both Icthalur and Ilyo being drawn into the tree.

She was about to rush forward, but before she could, Ilyo's voice halted her. "It wasn't supposed to do this. But don't worry, I will find you again one day. Goodbye Kagome. I love you." With that, Ilyo and Icthalur were gone, sucked into the tree, back to the Feudal Era. Kagome stood in shocked silence for a minute, then fell to the ground and sobbed bitterly.

Meanwhile, in the Feudal Era, Ilyo and Icthalur emerged from the tree. Sesshomaru was not there. Ilyo turned back to the tree and attempted to put more energy into it, to make a new portal. But the tree wouldn't accept it. Ilyo kept trying, but it wouldn't work.

As Icthalur watched, Ilyo tried again and again to reopen the portal, but to no avail. Finally, he slumped to the ground, knowing that there was no way back.


	22. The End

**The End**

* * *

For over an hour, Ilyo remained slumped on the ground, staring blankly at nothing.

Finally, Icthalur couldn't take it anymore, and he went over to Ilyo and yanked him to his feet. "Come on, my friend. There is nothing more we can do now. We might as well go find Sesshomaru." Ilyo didn't say anything, but when Icthalur took off, he followed.

After about an hour of flying, the two friends came across Sesshomaru's castle. From the outside, it looked almost identical to the castle from the future. Icthalur and Ilyo landed on the front lawns, and quickly entered the building. Once inside, they realized how different the dwelling really was.

In the future castle, the inside looked like it belonged to some spoiled royalty, but this castle was not like that at all. It was very dark and there was almost no indication of life. As the two walked up the main staircase, they looked in the rooms they passed and only a few had anything in them at all.

When they reached the second floor, Icthalur and Ilyo both turned to where they knew Sesshomaru's office was. The door was ajar, so they entered without announcing their presence. Inside, they were greeted by the sight of Sesshomaru throttling Jaken. They watched as Sesshomaru finally dropped his servant.

Ilyo could tell that Sesshomaru had once again become the Lord. He figured that as soon as Sesshomaru had returned to this era, he had been recognized as the true ruler.

At that moment, Sesshomaru finally noticed the two of them standing in his doorway. He turned his emotionless mask towards them. "Why are you here?"

Ilyo didn't say anything, so Icthalur took that as his cue to speak. "After you passed through the portal, it drew in Ilyo and myself. We were forced back into this era and now we appear to be stuck here for the long run."

Sesshomaru nodded and turned to Ilyo. To everyone's surprise, a look of pity and sadness was evident on Sesshomaru's normally emotionless face. "I am sorry that you are unable to get back to your woman, brother. If it is any consolation, you will be able to meet her again one day. We demons do live a very long time."

Ilyo thought about this and smiled. He realized the wisdom in his brother's words. He nodded. "Thank you, Sesshomaru. You are right."

Icthalur watched the brothers silently, before asking his own question. "Well, now that is settled, what are we going to do for the next five hundred years?"

At this, both Ilyo and Sesshomaru grinned widely.

"There will always be demons after the sacred jewel, and now that I have it, they'll be coming for me." Ilyo stated.

Sesshomaru nodded his head, showing he agreed with Ilyo's statement. Then, he spoke up. "Let them come. We will destroy any who think that they can defeat us. Others will come as well. As ruler of the Western Lands, there are always demons who think to replace me." The three looked at each other and grinned, thinking of their futures with anticipation.

After a while, Ilyo looked to the sky, silently hoping that the next five hundred years would fly by as quickly as possible.

Back in the future, three days had passed since everyone had returned to the Feudal Era through the tree. Kagome stayed in her room, only coming out to eat a few mouthfuls of food a day. Her family was growing intensely worried about her.

Kagome's mother, grandfather, and brother were all sitting around the kitchen table, thinking up ideas about how to draw her from her room, when a loud knock startled them all. Kagome's mother got to her feet and went to answer the door. To her immense surprise, there were three large figures standing in the doorway.

"Greetings," one of them said in an incredibly deep voice. "May we come in?" Nodding her head, she moved aside and allowed the three strangers to enter. They followed her into the living room and sat down on some chairs and the couch. Kagome's mother watched the three carefully. She had recognized them as soon as they came through the door.

Ilyo raised his head. "May we see Kagome?" She shook her head. Ilyo looked disappointed, until she expanded on her statement.

"No, she is sleeping." Ilyo nodded silently and turned to his two companions, Sesshomaru and Icthalur. They nodded as well. Ilyo turned back to Kagome's mother.

"Is it all right if we wait then?" She nodded and then turned and went back to the kitchen, leaving the three alone.

"It's only been three days in this era. She's probably still very upset about how things turned out." Sesshomaru's logical statement made sense to Ilyo and he nodded. Then, he leaned back, indicating that they were to wait silently for Kagome to awaken.

Unknown to the three demons, Kagome was already awake. While sleeping, she had heard what sounded like cars pulling into the driveway. She had looked from her window in time to see two cars, expensive ones, park in the yard. Unfortunately, from her angle, she couldn't see who got out of them.

Shrugging, Kagome had been about to go back to bed, when she caught a faint scent coming from downstairs. Her eyes widened when she realized whose scent it was. Throwing open her door, she jumped down the stairs, landing just by the kitchen door.

Looking up, Kagome's mother smiled to see her daughter out of bed. Inclining her head, she motioned towards the living room. Kagome turned and rushed joyously into the living room, and was greeted by the sight of all three demons staring at her from their resting places.

In an instant, Kagome had propelled her body at Ilyo. He caught her in his arms and held her close to him. Kagome rested her head on his shoulder and began to cry. Ilyo looked a little nervous, and he attempted to say something soothing, but he was halted when she pressed her lips to his in a passionate kiss.

Lost in the moment, the two of them remained lip-locked until a loud noise interrupted them. Ilyo looked up to see Icthalur grinning at him. Even Sesshomaru looked amused. Ilyo grinned back and looked back down at the girl in his arms.

Kagome was looking up at him with love in her eyes. Then she got a confused look in her eyes. "Did you find another way to get back to this era?" she inquired, curiosity colouring her voice.

Ilyo shook his head however. "No. We have lived the last five hundred years, waiting for this day. We would have come sooner, but we had things we had to do first." Kagome nodded, but Ilyo could see that she was dying to hear all that had happened to the three friends in the past five hundred years.

Turning, Ilyo placed Kagome on the couch beside him and began to tell the tale. "After we returned to the Feudal Era, Icthalur and myself reached an agreement with Sesshomaru. We lived in his castle, and we became joint protectors of the Western lands. We had many battles with different demons, and we defeated them all. Eventually, we started talking to the Lords of the Southern, Eastern and Northern Lands in an attempt to unite the four. That would stop all of the territory battles. Unfortunately, only the Northern Lord was interest. The other two refused outright. Overtime, we became good friends with the lord of the Northern Lands, and after several years, we united."

Kagome felt a moment of pride towards the three. Then, Ilyo continued on with the story. "The next thing we knew, the Lord of the Eastern Lands and his army attacked us. We defeated them all, and as we were disposing of them, the Lord of the Southern Lands launched his own attack. We defeated him as well. This left both the Southern and Eastern Lands without Lords. I assumed control of the East and Icthalur stepped up in the South. We united the lands, and there was peace for about a hundred years. Then, desperate demons started to come out of the woodwork, all gunning for the Shikon Jewel." He sighed and shook his head. "It was a very trying time. After several decades however, they all finally gave up, and we lived in peace for another long span of years. Soon after that, we realized that the times were changing. Human populations were growing and technology was advancing. We decided to change with the times. We started our own businesses and became quite wealthy. Now, we run our companies, and each of us still retains control over the Lands we have controlled for the last few centuries. We don't exert our control often, but it is there nevertheless."

Kagome listened to this silently and thought about it for a moment. Then she smiled, happy for Ilyo, Icthalur, and Sesshomaru. As she thought, she took a closer look at each of the three. Sesshomaru looked unchanged except he was dressed in a business suit instead of his usual white attire and his swords were no longer strapped to his waist. The familiar emotionless mask was still present however, and Kagome found she was pleased to see that the years hadn't changed the stoic demon Lord all that much. She instantly knew that this Sesshomaru was very different from the present day Sesshomaru that had previously existed.

Next, her gaze went to Icthalur. He was the same, with the same clothes and everything, but Kagome could tell that he was more powerful than he had been before. There was something in his eyes and even in the way he was seated that just screamed of raw power and confidence. He smirked at her when he realized she was studying him and she smiled back, happy to see the dragon demon.

Finally, Kagome's eyes came to a stop on Ilyo. He remained exactly the same as he had been before. He was older now, to be sure, but as a whole, he remained the same powerful, caring dog demon she had fallen in love with. She smiled and once again wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm glad you came back to me," she whispered in his ear. "But what happens now?" This question had been nagging at the back of Kagome's mind since she had entered the room and seen Ilyo sitting there.

For his part, Ilyo looked surprised by her question. "Well," he said slowly, "I thought maybe you would come and live with me. I do have a rather large house."

Kagome smiled happily when he fell silent. She didn't have to say anything; the look on her face was telling enough.

With the long explanations and tales out of the way, Ilyo rose from his seated position and gestured for Sesshomaru and Icthalur to do the same. Together, the four demons made their way out into the kitchen, where Kagome's family was waiting silently.

Kagome's mother took one look at her daughters smiling face and her eyes filled up with tears. She knew immediately that her daughter was going to be leaving her. It made her sad and happy at the same time; sad that her precious daughter wouldn't be around as much, but incredibly happy the Kagome had found someone to love.

Slowly, Kagome peeled herself away from Ilyo's side and approached her mother. The elder woman met her daughter with open arms and two embraced each other tightly. Tears were flowing from the eyes of both women as the males looked on in silence.

After a moment, the two separated and Kagome smiled. "I just want to say good bye to you guys. I'm gonna be leaving with Ilyo tonight and I'll be moving in with him permanently. I'll be back for my stuff tomorrow."

"I figured as much, sweetheart," her mother said softly. "We'll miss you terribly dear. Promise you'll visit a lot."

"Of course I will mom." Kagome smiled tremulously before turning to her brother and grandfather. "Bye guys. You better not touch my stuff while I'm gone," she cautioned Sota playfully.

The young boy grinned back at her and shook his head. "Of course not, sis."

Kagome's grandfather smiled wistfully. "I knew you'd end up with a demon in the end. At least you picked a strong one," he said with a laugh.

Kagome laughed along with him for a moment before falling silent. The silence lasted for several moments before she decided it was time to say one final goodbye. "We should be going now. Bye mom, grandpa, and Sota. I'll be back soon."

Kagome and the other three demons left the house while being showered by a chorus of 'goodbyes'. She paused and looked back at her home sadly for a minute, remembering all the good times she had there. Then she thought about where she was headed and a smile came onto her face.

Regardless of what she was leaving behind, she had a great new life to look forward to. Life with Ilyo was sure to be interesting, especially with Icthalur and Sesshomaru hanging around.

There wasn't a doubt in her mind. Kagome was done living in the past; it was time to start living for the future.


End file.
